


The Curse of Eros

by Lizonka



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Agape! Viktor, Alternate Universe, Angst, College AU, Eros! Yuuri, Fantasy AU, Hate to Love, High School AU, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Pining, Pining Viktor, Slow Build, Slow Burn, more tags will be added, urban fantasy au, very slow burn, yuuri hates viktor
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-29
Updated: 2017-09-01
Packaged: 2018-10-25 09:03:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 37,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10761045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lizonka/pseuds/Lizonka
Summary: If only Yuuri never met Viktor, then perhaps his life would be so much better.In another life, Yuuri wouldn't be such an anxious mess. He would go to school like any normal kid, fall in love like any normal teen, and appreciate his magic like any normal Wielder.But this is not that kind of life. In this life, Yuuri is cursed, cursed by the Nikiforovs.Damned to be a vessel for Viktor Nikiforov's magic, Yuuri lost everything he's supposed to have.And this story is about how Yuuri struggles to get them all back.





	1. No Escape

**Author's Note:**

> *This is my first ever fanfic, so please be kind to me!*
> 
> In this work, I made Yuuko as Minako's niece for plot purposes. Also, Phichit, Leo, Guang-hong, and Seung-gil are the same age as Yuuri.

“You have to separate yourself from Eros, Yuuri,” Minako told the boy while he was crouching on the floor, crying tears of frustration. “Don’t let Eros get a hold of your emotions.”

“I-I’m t-trying, Sensei,” Yuuri choked out as he tried to contain himself. “But it’s just so hard. I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry."

Yuuri shifted from crouching to sitting on the floor. He rubbed at his eyes to stop the tears from falling, but they fell anyway and continue to damp his cheeks. He took a look at the room around him and saw what a mess he made. The mirrors on the wall were all broken.

Minako sat across him on the floor. Yuuri refused to meet her gaze while he was in such a pathetic state.

“It’s okay Yuuri,” Minako started; her voice was patient and understanding. “I know it wasn’t your fault. That was Eros’s doing.”

Yuuri didn’t reply. No matter what his teacher would tell him, he knew that it was his fault. He was the one who destroyed the studio, not Eros.

Minako shuffled closer to Yuuri on the floor and said, “I know you have a lot of questions, and that there are a lot of things you don’t understand. For that, I’m sorry because even I don’t hold all the answers. As Psychics, our powers are unique. That means no one else would have exactly the same kind of magic. Only we can truly find the answers to our own questions.”

Yuuri didn’t understand what Minako was saying. He didn’t ask to be a Psychic; he was contented with just being an Ice Wielder. But here he was, damned to be a vessel for someone else’s magic. _Why did it have to be me?_

“Yuuri, look at me,” said Minako as she placed a thumb under Yuuri’s chin, lifting his head. “I know you’re very frustrated right now, but don’t let it get to you, okay? Let’s just stop the lessons for today so that you can rest. We’ll continue them on Thursday.”

Minako removed her hand away from Yuuri’s face. Yuuri sighed and nodded in reply. He didn’t want Eros. He didn’t need it. All he wanted was to make magic with Ice.

 

* * *

 

Yuuri retired in his room for the rest of the day. Normally, he would’ve caught up with Phichit for Celestino’s lessons, but on that day, he just didn’t feel like it.

He took off his eyeglasses and placed them on top of the bedside drawer. He then curled on his bed and tried to find some answers to the question that always plagued his mind: If Eros was inside him, how can he separate himself from it? Even though he didn’t own Eros, it was still inside his Core. If only the Nikiforovs didn’t transfer it to him...

 _Nikiforov._ _Viktor Nikiforov._ This is all because of that Viktor guy that Yuuri had been suffering all these past thirteen years.

Yuuri’s parents explained to him that Viktor was a Dual type, which meant that he was born with two kinds of magic. His were Eros and Agape. However, Viktor was a very sickly child. His Core did not have enough Capacity to bear both kinds of magic because of his frail body. This led Viktor’s parents to seek for someone else who could carry one of their child's powers. And it just so happened to be Yuuri. Yuuri was only an infant back then but Minako said he already had the Capacity similar to that of a teenager’s.

No wonder Yuuri was never allowed outside of Yu-topia. Nobody knew how long Eros would remain dormant and everybody was wary of the day it would awaken because of its dangerous nature. Yuuri was furious when he found out about Viktor. It was so unfair.

Just when Yuuri was sinking deeper into his thoughts, a knock came on the door.

“Yuuri-kun? You in there? It’s me, Yuuko.” _It was Yuu-chan._

Yuuri leapt out of his bed when he heard her. He tried to fix his hair and rubbed at his eyes to erase all traces that he had cried earlier. He then grabbed for his glasses and put them on for extra concealment.

When he opened the door, Yuuko was smiling at him while presenting his pair of skates.

“Eh? What are those for?” Yuuri asked.

“Let’s go ice skating, Yuuri!” said Yuuko as she shoved the skates into Yuuri’s arms.

“Right now?” Yuuri asked again, taken aback by the sudden suggestion.

“Uh-huh, coz ever since you’ve been training with Aunt Minako, I don’t get to see you as often as before. I really miss you.”

“Oh, okay.” He said, ducking his head and feeling the color rise in his cheeks.

 

* * *

 

Yuuri and Yuuko went to an outdoor bath in the onsen that was not yet occupied by guests. Since Yuuri was still not allowed to go out to a real skating rink, he had to make do with the hot springs. He dipped both his hands into the water, closed his eyes, and focused on the feeling of it around him. Slowly, he was turning the water into ice. The water started freezing around where Yuuri’s hands were submerged and then it spread out until all of it was completely solid.

Being an Ice Wielder, Yuuri easily retrieved his hands out of the then frozen and not-hot-anymore spring. Yuuko clapped her hands as she looked at him with wide eyes.

“Why are you clapping?” Yuuri asked, averting his eyes away from her.

“Because you are so amazing! You just froze the hot springs!” Yuuko replied enthusiastically.

“It’s not the first time you’ve seen me do that.”

 “Yeah, but it’s still amazing.” She grinned.

Yuuri smiled at the praise, though still not meeting her eyes out of fear that she would notice how red he had turned.

 

* * *

 

The two of them started skating, though actually it was just sliding around because the spring wasn’t wide enough for the two of them.

Yuuri loved skating, being on ice, his own element. It energized him and it made him feel happy, free, as if the overwhelming burden that was placed on him was temporarily lifted away.

There were both silent for a while. Yuuri was unsure what to talk with her. His day was bad and he didn’t want to trouble Yuuko with his own worries.

“Yuuri-kun,” said Yuuko, breaking the silence.

“Yes?” replied Yuuri.

“Aunt Minako told me about what happened earlier.”

“Oh.” Yuuri stopped in his tracks and turned his body towards Yuuko.

 “Do you wanna talk about it?” she asked.

Yuuri did not reply. It was hard to talk about something that even he didn't understand about. However, Yuuko kept her eyes on him even though he refused to look at her. He could feel her gaze and he knew that he had to tell her.

“I’m having difficulty with the new dance program," Yuuri finally spoke. "Minako-sensei said that I should not let Eros know what I want. But I just don’t get it. Eros is inside me. There’s no way I can escape it”

“Hmmm…" Yuuko pondered as she slid to the edge of the spring. After sitting on a large boulder, she looked again at Yuuri.

“What was the new dance about?” she questioned.

Yuuri hesitated before he replied, “It was about freedom.”

“Oh, Yuuri…”

“Yeah, I know. It was really hard not to get into the dance while also trying my best to dance it properly.”

Yuuko paused, thinking of what else to say. "My aunt makes you dance so that you learn what emotions to project and what emotions to hide, right?"

Yuuri nodded.

"So... What emotion was it?"

"Huh?"

"What emotion did you project when you danced?"

"Oh, well nothing in particular really," he said, averting his eyes.

"Oh?" Yuuko said with a raised eyebrow.

Yuuri sighed and turned down his head, looking at his feet instead. "Minako-sensei said I should not think about the things I want the most when I dance in order not to trigger Eros, so I thought that I should think about the things I fear instead," he confessed.

"I thought about never being able to go outside if I never got to control Eros so that I could push myself harder during the lesson. But it was hard, scary even... using fear to motivate you," he said as he blinked away the tears that were welling in his eyes. "I got sidetracked and thought about the things I always wanted to do but never could because of this stupid Eros."

Yuuri paused and breathed in deeply. Yuuko said nothing, just waited for him to continue.

"Before I knew it, I was using Eros against Minako-sensei. I controlled her into destroying the mirrors in the studio because, even though I was so angry, I was too afraid to do it myself. Good thing Sensei was strong enough to realize she was under my spell. She was able to stop me before I did anything worse."

Yuuri shifted uncomfortably on the stone before he spoke again, " It was scary, Yuuko. _I_ was scary. I didn't even know I could do something so awful."

Yuuko placed a hand on Yuuri's back and started rubbing small circles on it. "I'm sure Eros is not that all bad. Maybe it has some good uses too. I'm sure you'll figure it out someday, Yuuri-kun. I believe in you."

At those words, Yuuri looked up to smile at her. "Thanks," he said.

Yuuko then stood and got off the frozen spring. "Well Yuuri-kun," she said. "I better get going now. I promised Takeshi-kun to meet with him in Ice Castle at four. I'll visit you again tomorrow."

"Oh, okay" was all Yuuri managed to say. He looked at Yuuko's back as she walked away from him. As she got to door, she turned around and gave Yuuri one last look to say goodbye.

"Goodbye," Yuuri said back and then he was all alone again.

 

* * *

 

Yuuri trained with Celestino and Phichit the next day. Coach Celestino was teaching the two teenagers how to create an ice shield with their body.

"The key is to focus on the part of your body that you want to shield with the ice," said Celestino as he raised his right arm, getting ready for a demonstration. "Then, you try to direct the energy coming from your Core into that part. Like so..."

Celestino then covered the entire lower half of his arm with ice that was formed like the small spikes of a porcupine. "How hard the shield is depends on how focused you are and how much Capacity you have."

"Wow, that is so cool!" Phichit beamed. "I want to try it."

Phichit tried to do the same thing Celestino did but it only resulted into a thin sheet of ice that cracked right after it was made.

"Huh? Why did that happen? I followed everything you did." He said, tilting his head and bringing his arm closer to his face for inspection.

"That's because you were focusing on how strong you wanted the shield to be," said Celestino.

"But isn't that what you said?"

"No, I told you to focus on the arm not on the strength of the shield. You cannot directly control what kind of shield will come out. The Core simply responds to your needs. It probably sensed that you had no real use for the shield so it didn't have to make a proper one."

"Oh, so that's how it works," said Phichit.

Phichit continued practicing on making the shield while Yuuri observed on how he did it.

Celestino approached Yuuri and encouraged him to give it a try. Yuuri extended his arm outwards and tried to focus his Core Energy into it. He could feel the flow of something cold and electric rush from his chest area to his lower arm. A frost of air hovered around Yuuri’s arm. Phichit was watching him now, waiting to see the shield. 

Yuuri struggled on keeping his focus on his arm. He could already feel sweat moving down his forehead. After a few seconds, ice started to build slowly around the arm. First, there was one layer of a thin sheet of ice enveloping him. Then there was a second layer, making the ice around him thicker. But when the ice started to grow another layer, it stopped abruptly and all the layers melted away.

Yuuri did not move as he watched all the ice turn into water. His Ice had _never_ turned into water before. He could freeze water and then unfreeze it; his Ice had cracked before, but it had never melted away without his control. Celestino stared at it with his mouth agape. Phichit looked at the two of them in confusion; he seemed to be the only one who had no idea about the gravity of the situation.

“Don’t worry about it, Yuuri,” Phichit said while placing a hand on his friend’s shoulder.  Yuuri did not budge; his arm was still outstretched before him. “You can’t expect to get it right the first time. I failed too,” Phichit added.

“That’s not the point here, Phichit,” Celestino said, then narrowed his eyes on Yuuri and pressed his lips into a straight line. “Yuuri’s Ice never melted before.”

Phichit still didn’t get it. “Yeah, I know that,” Phichit replied. “But is that really a big deal? My Ice melts every now and then.”

Celestino ignored the oblivious Phichit and turned his attention to Yuuri. “Are you alright, Yuuri? I can excuse you for today’s lessons if you’re not feeling well.”

Yuuri came back to his senses when he heard his name called. “I-I’m fine, coach,” he uttered, still shocked from what had happened. The Ice would only melt when the Wielder’s Core was running out of energy–something that Yuuri never had to worry about because of his Core Capacity that was almost seven times more than the average person’s. Besides, he had only woken up. He had not done anything yet that could use up his energy. Something was wrong, and Yuuri was definitely not feeling fine.

Celestino could sense Yuuri’s unease and decided to give his two students an early break. “We’ll resume training in thirty minutes,” the coach announced. Afterwards, he exited the backyard and went indoors.

Yuuri sat on the grass and hunched his back. While chewing on his lip, he tried to think of why his Ice melted. Phichit sat beside him and offered to talk about it.

“Maybe you didn’t get enough sleep last night. Your Core must not have properly regenerated,” suggested Phichit.

“Well yeah, I did not get enough sleep last night,” agreed Yuuri, but then his tone turned firm. “But I was skating with Yuuko before I went to bed. I was on the ice last night. It could have regenerated back then!”

“Whoah, this is stranger than I thought.” Phichit finally realized. Yuuri was aggressively running his hands through his hair when his friend spoke up again: “You think this has something to do with Eros?”

“What?” Yuuri furrowed his brows and looked at Phichit.

“You said Eros went out of control yesterday,” explained Phichit. “Maybe it used a lot of your Energy.”

“But that never happened before…”

“Just because something had never happened before, it doesn’t mean that it is impossible.”

Yuuri had no reply to that, because Phichit was right. Yuuri had been stressed the past days figuring out how to dance the ballet program that Minako had prepared for him. The program was about freedom, something that he desperately wanted and something that he must never think about while he danced. It was difficult to not let his innermost desires show in the dance steps.

Phichit noticed the worried look on Yuuri’s face so he changed the topic in order to calm him down.

“Hey Yuuri, remember that one time you got out of the house?” asked Phichit.

Yuuri raised an eyebrow at Phichit, but his friend just smiled at him. “Yeah, I remember. That was three years ago,” said Yuuri. “You made a hole in the wall so that I could get out Yu-topia without the guards noticing.”

Phichit laughed and said, “Yeah, you were so mad at me back then! I had to freeze the wall around the hole to prevent it from further collapsing.”

Yuuri laughed with Phichit, but then he fell silent. “That was also the day Eros woke up,” he said sadly.

“Well yeah, that’s true,” Phichit said, but then quickly added: “But that was also the day you seduced a beautiful foreign woman.”

“Phichit-kun!” Yuuri yelled, his cheeks starting to blush.

Phichit only laughed louder at him. “But she was beautiful! She had reddish brown hair that looked so silky; I doubt that they were even real. Oh, and she had blue eyes too! I remember. But what was her name again? Vanessa? Vivian? I know it starts with a letter V—”

“Victoria.”

“Huh?”

“Victoria. Her name was Victoria.”

When Yuuri and Phichit sneaked out of Yu-topia three years ago, Yuuri got separated from Phichit in the crowd. That was when he accidentally bumped into Victoria. She was looking for the local ice rink, but she couldn’t speak Japanese and it made things harder for her. When she learned that Yuuri could speak English, she was so happy. Yuuri ended up going to Ice Castle with her that day after they had asked for directions from the people around them.

Phichit smiled wider at Yuuri and then started to tease him. “Wow Yuuri, I can’t believe you still remember her name. After all, it’s been three years.”

“Well, English names are quite pretty. I’m not likely to forget it,” defended Yuuri.

“ _It’s a pretty name. I’m not likely to forget it,_ ” Phichit mocked. “Oh why don’t you just admit that you found her attractive too.”

“I was only ten, Phichit-kun.”

“So?”

Yuuri sighed in defeat. Victoria was _very_ attractive. Yuuri was immediately drawn to her presence the first time he laid eyes on her. He couldn’t look away.

“One thing that was really weird though was the color of her eyebrows and eyelashes,” Phichit said after a while of Yuuri’s silence. “Like, why were they already grey? Maybe she was a Shape-shifter who was actually very old but could change her appearance to make her look younger.”

“That doesn’t really explain why her hair is brown,” Yuuri answered, even though he did agree with Phichit that the difference in hair colors were out of place.

“Whatever,” Phichit said, rolling his eyes. Then, he added, “I remember, when I delivered the letter you wrote for her, telling her that you couldn’t make it to your next meeting, she was very upset.”

“Right after I met her, Eros activated,” said Yuuri. “Everybody got stricter around me and there was no way I could sneak out again.”

“Yeah, your parents and _Khun_ Minako were very mad at me,” said Phichit. “They thought I was a bad influence on you.”

“On that, I agree with them.”

 “Yuuri!”

 “Just kidding,” Yuuri chuckled.

 

* * *

 

The two friends talked for some time until Celestino returned to the backyard. Training resumed immediately. Yuuri’s Ice still kept melting right after he tried making a shield, but that didn’t stop him from practicing.

By the time the lessons ended, Yuuri and Phichit were both exhausted. They wolfed down their meals during dinner and then lounged on the sofa in the living room. Yuuko said she was going to visit, so the two of them were waiting for her there.

Yuuri turned on the TV to pass the time. Nothing interesting was on, just a bunch of news reports from the International Wielders Union Channel or what Phichit liked to call as the I-Three-U.

“Because ‘W’ plus ‘U’ equals triple U’s!” Phichit had explained to Yuuri before. Yuuri had laughed at the lame joke.

After some time, Yuuko arrived in the living room. She was still wearing her uniform from the school where non-magical people went to and carrying her handbag.

“Hello Yuuri-kun, hello Phichit-kun!” Yuuko greeted.

“Hi, Yuu-chan!” said Yuuri

“Hi _Phii_ Yuuko!” said Phichit.

Yuuko joined them on the sofa. She sat between the two boys.

“So how was training today?” Yuuko asked, glancing at Yuuri and then at Phichit.

“It was so exhausting, _Phii_ Yuuko! Ciao-ciao was teaching us about ice shields but none of us could get it right,” exclaimed Phichit. “We tried so many times that our Cores are probably empty right now."

"He's exaggerating, Yuu-chan," said Yuuri. "If our Cores are empty, we would've been dead already."

Yuuko simply laughed at the two of them. “So even Yuuri couldn’t get it?” she asked. “Was it really that hard?”

“Yeah, it was,” said Yuuri restrictively. He didn’t want to let Yuuko know about what happened to his Ice.

“Mine cracked each time I tried,” Phichit whimpered, resting his elbows on his lap and then sinking his head unto his hands

“Oh, that’s bad,” said Yuuko. “I had a hard time at school today too.”

“Why? What happened?” Yuuri asked.

“Takeda-sensei punished me and Takeshi-kun for being late on his class,” she explained. “We had to clean the swimming pool after all our classes were over. That’s why we got here later than we had planned.”

“Whoah, you have it worse than me and Yuuri combined,” commented Phichit.

“Wh-why w-were the two of you late together?” Yuuri asked. Phichit shot him a concerned look.

“Oh, that’s because Takeshi-kun got himself into a one-on-one basketball match with this Kageyama guy from the other class. It was quite a scene, really. I stuck around so that I could see who won. And of course, it was Takeshi-kun!” she said with eyes alight. Yuuri could feel his heart clench at seeing her being that way because of someone else. _Because of Nishigori,_ he thought.

“He actually came here with me today,” added Yuuko.“but he accidentally stepped into some deep mud on our way here, so he’s probably still by the entrance trying to clean off his shoes and pants.”

“Oh, okay” was all that Yuuri could say. He shifted a little on his seat so that he won’t sit too close to Yuu-chan.

Phichit started leading the conversation, direction Yuuko’s attention away from Yuuri.

Nishigori eventually arrived in the living room. Since there was no more space for him on the sofa, he sat on the floor by Yuuko’s legs. Yuuri became tongue-tied and awkward when he joined the conversation. It was always so frustrating when Nishigori could tell more exciting things to Yuuko than Yuuri ever could because the two of them had a lot more in common.

 

* * *

 

Yuuri excused himself from the group earlier than he intended, saying that he was tired from practice and would like to rest. He didn’t notice though that, the moment he left the living room, Yuuko had followed him.

“Is there’s something wrong, Yuuri-kun?” she asked as Yuuri was about to enter his room

Yuuri turned around and was surprised to see Yuuko there. “Yuu-chan? What are you doing here?”

“You were quiet tonight, Yuuri-kun,” she said. “Phichit-kun told me to just leave you alone, but I couldn’t help it. As your friend, I really want to be able to help you.”

Yuuri gave her a soft smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes and said, “I’m fine, Yuu-chan. Just tired; that’s all.”

“Are you sure?” she asked with concern in her voice.

“Yes,” Yuuri replied.

“Hmm… how about we hang out together tomorrow?” she suggested. “You’ve been working yourself out a lot these past days, you deserve a reward!”

“E-eh?” Yuuri fumbled, not sure if he had just heard Yuuko correctly.

“Your lessons end early on Fridays, right?” she continued. “We can have a little picnic in the backyard. Us, Phichit-kun, and Takeshi-kun. It would be so much fun!”

“Oh,” said Yuuri, his eyes turned down to look at the floor. “With Nishigori, huh?”

“Hmm?”

“Oh nothing, just…” Yuuri said, raising his hands up in front of him. He couldn’t believe he just said that out loud. And without really thinking, he added, “Can we just be alone tomorrow?”

Yuuri felt the surge of an intense current rush from his Core and reverberate outside him. In a split second, Yuuko froze on the spot while her brown eyes dilated so wide that it looked almost entirely black. Her expression turned blank; her mouth was agape and her entire body was stiff. After a minute, the color came back to her. She looked completely normal again.

“Of course, Yuuri-kun. Anything you want,” she said in a soft but also somewhat robotic tone.

“Huh?” Yuuri was taken aback by her answer. He did not expect Yuuko to just agree right away.

“I’ll do anything you want,” repeated Yuuko, smiling gently at him. “After all, that’s what friends are for.”

“Okaay…” said Yuuri. “So I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yes, tomorrow,” Yuuko replied.

“Goodnight then?”

“Goodnight.”

 

* * *

 

Yuuri quickly closed the door behind him as soon as Yuuko left. He leaned his back against the door, finally letting out the breath that he had been holding. Yuuko had agreed to spend some alone time with him! How was that even possible?

Before he could over-think things, Yuuri jumped into his bed, barely remembering to discard his glasses first. He was so happy; he just wanted to enjoy the feeling of it before his anxiety struck back. He couldn’t wait for tomorrow. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thai words used by Phichit in this chapter:
> 
> Phii--used to adress a female friend who is older than you  
> Khun-- the same as saying Ms. in english


	2. Unfair

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri learns how to sense Eros. And Celestino is planning to teach in an academy abroad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so the first two chapters are quite a bit fast paced because they are sort of like a prologue. The real story starts in Chapter 3. So for now, please bear with me~!

It was Thursday. Yuuri arrived at the studio before Minako. He noticed that the broken mirrors on the wall were taken down and that the glass shards on the floor were swept. Yuuri stepped inside and thought about how different the room looked like. His parents had built the room about two years ago at the far side of their house just so Yuuri can have a proper place to train in. Looking at the bare walls, Yuuri felt a pang of guilt inside him.

Yuuri had changed into his shirt and tights beforehand. He sat on the floor with his legs outstretched in a in front of him and bent forward in order to reach his toes. He stayed in that position for a few seconds while his mind wandered to thoughts of Yuuko from yesterday. He was able to delay his worrying last night, but now that he is alone in this quiet room with nothing to distract him he couldn’t help but wonder about what had happened.

Yuuko had agreed to spend some alone time in him. That thought, although it was true, still seemed like a lie. Something just didn’t feel right about it. Yuuri knew Yuuko had only agreed on it because she wanted to be a good friend, but somehow that also seemed like a lie.

Yuuri hated it. He hated it when he can’t distinguish the truth from the lie.

After some time, Minako arrived.

“G-good morning, Sensei!” said Yuuri. He halted what he was doing and stood to greet his teacher.

“Good morning, Yuuri,” Minako replied with a smile. “You’re early today.”

“Yes, I am,” said Yuuri, not knowing what else to say.

Minako went to the only table that was in the room and placed her shoulder bag on it. There were no chairs inside because both Yuuri and Minako preferred to lie down on the floor anyway after practice.

“Are you ready for today, Yuuri?” Minako asked as she approached him

Yuuri nodded in reply, because he wasn’t sure himself to say that he was indeed ready.

Minako eyed Yuuri from head to toe like she always did before the start of each lesson. It was her way of assessing his physical state, especially his Core. She was a Reader, a Psychic type that could see the Cores of people, analyze them, and to some extent, “tame” them.

“Okay then, let’s start,” she said, settling to squat on the floor. “Come sit here with me, Yuuri.”

“Uhmm, okay,” he said as he sat across his teacher on the floor. “What will we be doing today, Minako-sensei?”

“We...” she started. “are going to have a talk.”

“Eh?”

“Yuuri, we can’t train properly if you’re all jumbled up inside,” she said as she poked Yuuri on the area by the heart where his Core was also located. “I can tell, you know.”

“I’m sorry,” Yuuri mumbled, shrugging off Minako’s hand away from him.

“So tell me... what’s wrong?” Minako asked, settling her elbows on her legs and folding her hands under her chin.

Yuuri kept his head low and his hands held onto his knees, gripping the tights he was wearing with his fists. “There’s nothing wrong, really,” he said, then after a while he sighed. “I was just thinking...”

“Thinking about what?”

Yuuri fidgeted on the floor. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but then closed it because the words wouldn’t come out.

“Yuuri...” said Minako. Her tone suggested that Yuuri should just tell him what was bothering him so that he can get over it right away. But doing that wasn’t easy. It never had been.

“Minako-sensei, I...” he started, keeping his head down. It was easier to talk about his feelings if he didn’t maintain eye contact with the person he was talking to. “I-I’m scared.”

Yuuri paused. He took a deep breath to stop himself from just breaking out into tears. Minako did not push him to continue until he was ready.

“I’m scared because... I don’t know if it’s just me or if it’s already Eros doing it,” he said finally.

“What do you mean?” Minako asked.

“What happened last Tuesday...” said Yuuri, recalling the incident where he had used Minako to break the mirrors on the wall. “I didn’t even know that I was already using Eros. I remember telling you to break things for me, but I just thought that it was the normal me, not Eros. It was only after you broke the spell that I realized that I was acting really weird, that maybe Eros was the one doing it and–“

“Not _maybe_ , Yuuri,” Minako cut him off. “It _was_ Eros.” She smiled at Yuuri as she tilted his head to look at him in the eye. “Don’t forget that,” she added.

“Yes, it was Eros,” he repeated, though still doubting the meaning of those words. “but somehow I don’t think I would feel any different if I had been the one doing it. It’s scary... I don’t know what to do.”

Minako did not reply right way. She crossed her arms in front of her and closed her eyes, furrowing her eyebrows as she thought of something to say. Yuuri watched her, waiting for her answer.

After a while, Minako opened her eyes. She let out a deep breath before speaking. “Yuuri, whenever you use Ice, how do you feel?”

“H-huh?” Yuuri was taken aback by the question. He wanted answers for Eros, not Ice.

“When you use Ice, you are aware that you are using it, right?”

“Yes, but that’s because I can see Ice.”

“Yes, you can see it because it’s an Elemental magic. You can’t see Eros because it’s a Psychic type of magic.”

“Uhmm.. yeah.”

“God, I should have taught you this earlier,” said Minako, although it sounded like she was talking to herself, not Yuuri.

“Eh? What do you mean?” he inquired.

“There are five types of Wielders, right?” she said, and not waiting for Yuuri to answer she continued. “Elementals, Shapeshifters, Healers, Smiths, and then us Psychics. Among these types, only the Psychics have magic that is abstract, magic that cannot be seen by the eyes. And some healers too actually, but let’s not talk about them.”

“Okaaay...” said Yuuri.

“But what’s common among all the different types is that the magic can be _felt_ ,” Minako stated. “And I’m not talking about the coldness of the ice that you can feel at the tips of your fingers; no, not that.”

Yuuri tilted his head in confusion.

“What I mean is,” she continued. “one can feel the uhmm... how do I say this? The aura? Yes! One can feel the ‘aura’ of that magic. It’s like the Wielder can sense it. The feeling is just stronger in some types than in others.”

“Oh, so how do I feel this... ‘aura’?”

“Hmm, how about you use Ice?” suggested Minako. “But close your eyes when you do and try to focus on the energy being released by your Core instead of what kind of ice magic you’re going to make. Can you do that?”

“I can try... I guess.”

Yuuri closed his eyes and he brought his right hand in front of him with its palm face up. He thought about forming simple ice claws at the tips of his fingers—No, he must not think of that. Yuuri shook his head. He breathed in, and then breathed out. _Think of the energy,_ he reminded himself.

Yuuri felt cold, but not in an uncomfortable way. His heart clenched in a moment and then it was like his blood vessels were constricting. There was some kind of current rushing through his arm–fast, sure, and electric. It slowly eased out of him and when he opened his eyes, he saw the tips of his fingers covered in long and thick ice needles.

“Wow...” he remarked, bringing his hand closer to his face. The result was better than he expected.

“Well, how did it feel?” his teacher questioned.

“It was...” Yuuri paused, trying to recall the feeling. He had felt [calm, peaceful, and happy.] But that was just how he always felt when using Ice. He tried to focus again, tried to put the physical feeling into words.

“I felt... cold,” he said. “It was like I was in front of an AC and all that cold air was breezing past me, except my arm was colder than the rest of my body. Like, uhmm, it was as if someone poured water over it. And you know, when you’re wet and inside an air conditioned room, it feels colder.”

“Well, it looks like you’re getting the hang of it,” said Minako. “If you keep focusing on the energy, I bet you can give me a better description next time.”

Yuuri chuckled and Minako laughed with him.

After some time, Yuuri said, “But what about with Eros? How am I supposed to sense Eros? I’m not allowed to use it.”

“I think suppressing Eros would be easier now that you learning how to identify Ice,” replied Minako.

“What do you mean?”

“Yuuri, you just have to be honest with yourself,” explained Minako. “Eros is a kind of magic that feeds on your emotions. In order to recognize it, you must first recognize the emotion you are feeling at a moment. You must be always aware of yourself, and then, I think, somehow you’ll realize when Eros is in control.”

“I-I don’t get it.”

“If you know what it is your feeling Yuuri, only then can you decide what to do about it and face it head-on, like what you did just now. You admitted that you were feeling scared and by doing so you were able to ask advice from me. Let yourself know the emotion before Eros could, and I’m sure you’ll be able to suppress it.”

Yuuri didn’t get it but nodded anyway. A part of what Minako told him really struck him: “If you know what it is your feeling, only then can you decide what to do about it and face it head on.” He made a note to always remember that.

Minako cancelled ballet lessons for that day and instead gave Yuuri a review of the scientific explanations of human emotions as he requested. It was a relief, not having to dance that difficult program.

 

* * *

 

 

The hours ticked by and now it was half past eleven. Yuuri’s lessons with Minako had ended and so Yuuri’s mother called them to the dining room for lunch. The mention of “lunch” made Yuuri uneasy; it reminded him of the time. Yuuko’s classes end a little after twelve that day because it was an exam day at her school, and she did promise to visit Yuuri. Although Yuuri still had to join with Phichit and Celestino for Ice training, it wouldn’t start until two in the afternoon. That meant Yuuri would have about an hour alone with Yuuko.

As Yuuri made his way to the dining room, he can’t help but hope that Yuuko would arrive when his lessons with Celestino had already started. That would save him from having to face her or come up with some lame excuse why he shouldn’t be seeing her.

 

* * *

 

 

Yuuri sat between Phichit and her mother on soft pillows by the dining table. His father couldn’t join them for lunch because he was, at that moment, trying to settle a complaint with a guest about the quality of the room that the said guest was staying in.

When lunch was almost over, Celestino shared to Minako and Yuuri’s mother that he was thinking about applying for a job as a professor in a renowned academy for Wielders that was located in Michigan. He was recommended by his friend, who was already teaching there, and he was told that the school would like to look into him after they heard about Celestino’s credentials.

“Celestino, if you’re going to the US, who’s gonna stay here and coach Yuuri and Phichit?” Yuuri’s mother asked. “You’ve been teaching Yuuri for six years now, and Phichit much longer. I don’t want to hold you back if you really want to go, but are you sure?”

“Yeah, Ciao-ciao, who’s gonna teach me?” Phichit inserted. “I followed you to Beijing and then here to Hasetsu, and now you’re moving _again_?”

“Phichit-kun...” Yuuri said, trying to calm his friend down.

“Well, you can get a different coach, Phichit,” said Celestino. “or maybe you can go back to Thailand. It’s been months since you last visited your mother and siblings.”

“Ciao-ciao!” Phichit yelled. Yuuri winced at hearing his friend get mad.

Celestino put his chopsticks down and looked at Phichit and Yuuri. “Don’t get me wrong; I really do enjoy teaching the two of you. I’ve been teaching you kids for six... seven years? You two are already like my own two sons.”

Phichit fell silent.

“But I’ve been thinking that it’s time I get into a different environment,” continued Celestino. “ _and_ I was also thinking of bringing you two with me. That is, if your parents agree.”

Yuuri and Phichit stared at Celestino with their mouths agape. Yuuri wondered if the man was joking.

“Oi, Celestino, you can’t be serious, ey?” asked Minako after downing another glass of beer. She would always drink beer during meal times. “Phichit’s parents would most likely agree, because, well, he’d been travelling with you since he was six. But what about Yuuri? You know, Eros is still unstable.”

“Yes, my Yuuri can’t just go,” added Yuuri’s mother. “What if something bad happens to him? What if—”

“I know, Hiroko. I know,” Celestino cut her off as he waved his hand, and then turned to look at Yuuri and then to Minako. “Minako, I really think it’s best if Yuuri gets outside his comfort zone. There a lot of things that he need to know and that I am not capable of teaching. And it’s not just about Ice, I think. Eros could also need another teacher.”

Minako looked incredulously at Celestino but the man did not look away. He was being serious, and somehow Yuuri felt that he was the cause of the tension hanging in the atmosphere.

Hiroko told her son and Phichit to exit the dining room so that the adults can have a private conversation. The two friends decided to go to the backyard.

 

* * *

 

 

“Well,” said Phichit as he lay on the grass. “Celestino is like my dad now, so wherever he goes, I go. What about you Yuuri?”

“I’ve barely been outside of my own house, and now you’re asking me if I should go to America?” said Yuuri, and that made Phichit laugh.

“Yeah, that is quite ironic,” chuckled Phichit. “If you like, I can sneak you out again and this time, give you a proper tour around Hasetsu.”

“Phichit!” yelled Yuuri, sititing up on the grass

“Ha, ha, just kidding! No need to get so serious. I wouldn’t want to be scolded by your parents anyway,” said Phichit as he also shifted from lying down to sitting.

Yuuri pouted at his friend, but then his expression turned sombre.  As much as he liked the idea of finally going outside, he also feared of what might happen to him if he is far away from Yu-topia where he grew up protected and monitored. The first time he went outside, he got lost and shortly after, Eros awoke. He was unconscious for a week as his body tried to get used to Eros.

“Hey, Yuuri...” said Phichit, interrupting Yuuri from his thoughts. “as much as I want to go with Ciao-ciao, I don’t want to leave you too.”

“Phichit-kun...” said Yuuri, but before he could say anything else, he noticed Yuuko approaching from the back gate.

“Hi, Yuuri-kun. Hi, Phichit-kun,” greeted Yuuko with a smile, but it looked like it was plastered on her face.

“Oh, _Phii_ Yuuko! Hello! I didn’t know you were visiting today,” said Phichit.

“Well, I promised to spend some time with Yuuri-kun today,” she said. Yuuri had almost forgotten about her visiting; his mind was distracted by thoughts of possibly moving with Celestino and Phichit to America.

“Huh? Yuuri?” Phichit shifted his eyes to Yuuri with a look that said _What’s this about? Tell. Me. Everything._

 _“_ Umm, hello Yuu-chan,” said Yuuri, but not really looking at her. He turned to look at Phichit and his eyes looked like they were saying: _I’ll tell you later._

Phichit seemed to have gotten the message. He told Yuuri and Yuuko that he needed to go to the bathroom, so he left the two of them alone in the backyard.

Once Phichit left, Yuuri turned his attention to Yuuko. He stood and then went to the bench that was near the gate and gestured to Yuuko to follow him. Yuuri didn’t really know what they were going to do today although he was the one who asked Yuuko to visit. But first, he thought, they should at least sit on somewhere comfortable.

“So Yuuri-kun, how were your lessons with Aunt Minako today?” Yuuko asked as she sat down.

“They were... fine,” Yuuri replied as he sat on the other side of the bench, leaving much space between him and Yuuko. “We didn’t do ballet today. Minako-sensei just gave me a review of some past lessons.”

 _Just talking is good,_ thought Yuuri to himself as Yuuko asked him about what kind of review her aunt gave. _Yes, I can just talk with Yuuko. I don’t have to do anything more._ Yuuri then found himself explaining about the base emotions of humans and how it was important for a Psychic to be able to read such emotions from other people.

“Whoah... that sounds more complicated than I thought,” commented Yuuko. She then leaned forward to Yuuri and with enthusiasm (or was it just politeness?) in her voice, she asked him to tell her more about himself.

And so he did. Yuuri told Yuuko about the meditation techniques Minako demonstrated for him. His teacher told him that those techniques could help him improve on sensing his magic and help him focus on where he would direct his Energy.

When Yuuri proceeded on doing a demonstration of his own, as per Yuuko requested, he was reminded of what he should have been doing. He shouldn’t be freely talking to Yuuko. Not like this, not when he suspected that Eros was the one Yuuko was talking to right now. But talking to Yuuko made him feel happy. It made him feel special, more so because she was talking only to him and nobody else.

 _If you know what it is your feeling Yuuri, only then can you decide what to do about it and face it head-on_. The words of Minako from earlier wandered to mind while Yuuri was meditating.

 _What is it I’m feeling?_ Yuuri asked himself. He felt happy, of course. Yuuko was there. Yuuko was talking to him. But he also didn’t feel right about it. There was no reason for Yuuko to be there. She still had her exams the next day; she should’ve been studying. She wouldn’t just agree to spend time with Yuuri because he was her friend. After all, Yuuri was just... Yuuri. There was nothing special about him.

Yuuri then thought about last night before he asked Yuuko to spend time with him. _What was I feeling back then?_ Nishigori was there. Yuuri felt awkward around Yuuko when Nishigori joined in the conversation. He was upset when he couldn’t tell more interesting things than Nishigori. He was feeling left out. He was, he was... Yuuri didn’t want to admit it. Yuuri didn’t want to think about it. But the words of his teacher resounded louder in his mind than his own thoughts: _Let yourself know the emotion before Eros could._

 _I was jealous_ , Yuuri finally admitted to himself. And the moment he did, he felt it. He felt Eros. He became more aware of his heart beating faster, of the Energy that was bursting within him like spikes going in different directions. Eros felt so, so... _vibrant._ So intense. It made Yuuri feel like he was on fire, and that if he wasn’t careful, the fire could consume him. Yuuri then wondered how he could have never noticed it before.

When Yuuri opened his eyes, he saw Yuuko looking intently at him. She was waiting, probably wondering why Yuuri had kept his eyes closed for so long. And then he noticed it. He caught sight of Yuuko glowing in a fierce red color but with a tint of black around the edges. _Eros,_ Yuuri thought. Eros had Yuuko.

That just confirmed everything Yuuri thought. Of course, it was only ever because of Eros. Why else would Yuuko be there for him?

With a deep breath, Yuuri removed the spell from her, just like how Minako taught him. Yuuko blinked once, twice...

 “Y-Yuuri-kun?” she asked, seeing Yuuri looking at her intently. “What was I...?”

“Aah, Yuu-cha– _Yuuko_ , I was just talking to you about the meditation techniques that Minako-sensei taught me earlier,” supplied Yuuri.

“You were?” she asked again. She furrowed her brows in thought, then as if remembering something, she said, “Ah, yes, yes! The meditation techniques. You were just about to demonstrate them, right?”

“Actually, I’ve already demonstrated them,” said Yuuri. “but you fell asleep while I was doing them...”

“I did? Oh, I did! I am so so sorry, Yuuri-kun! I didn’t mean to... I was just so tired from the exams and—”

“It’s okay, it’s okay, Yuuko,” said Yuuri. “My lessons with Celestino are just about to start anyway, so...”

“Oh right, I should get going,” she said. And as an afterthought, she added, “But Yuuri-kun, you’re calling me _Yuuko_ again! You can just call me _Yuu-chan,_ you know.”

“Ah, right” responded Yuuri.

Yuuri watched Yuuko walk towards the back gate. Two guards were stationed there and when they saw Yuuko, they unlocked the gate and allowed her to pass. Before Yuuko exited, Yuuri saw that she was about to look back at him. He looked away before Yuuko could meet his eyes and started walking towards the backdoor of the house. He didn’t want to face her.

 

* * *

 

Yuuri made his way to the living room. When he entered, he saw his mother, father, Celestino, Minako, and even Phichit gathered around in a circle.

“Ah Yuuri, you’re here,” said his father, gesturing for him to come closer.

“Father, why is everybody here?” Yuuri asked as he glanced at everyone. Yuuri saw Phichit sitting on the floor, so he sat there beside him.

“We have been talking about your future, Yuuri,” said his mother.

“Celestino and I talked earlier,” said Minako, and then reluctantly: “and we have come to an agreement that it would be best for you to go with him to Michigan, in America.”

“What?” said Yuuri.

“Isn’t that great, Yuuri?” Phichit chimed in, obviously trying to lighten up the atmosphere. “We can still get to be together!”

“But of course, we won’t rush you to fly with him,” inserted his Father.

“We’re going to stay here in Japan for two more years before we leave,” explained Celestino. “Until then, we have decided to finally allow you outside. That way, you can get used to it and it won’t be too much of a shock for you once we’re in America.”

Yuuri didn’t know what to say; he just stared blankly at his coach.

“The Detroit Academy for Wielders is a wonderful place, Yuuri,” Hiroko added, trying to sound cheerful. “Many Wielders from all around the world attend high school there. You will learn a lot of things.”

“And,” Minako started. “I hate to admit this but that school is especially renowned for Enchantment and Spells. They have a lot of Psychic teachers there and... I guess they’ll be able to help you more than I could.”

Everybody around Yuuri started talking about his future as if it was theirs. Only Phichit cared enough to ask what Yuuri wanted.

“I want to go to America as soon as possible,” said Yuuri.

Everyone in the room fell silent.

“Please?” Yuuri added when nobody replied. He wanted to get away from here. He wanted to run, to hide. He wanted to be somewhere else... be someone else.

“Yuuri, I know you’ve always wanted to go outside...” said his father. “but it’s too soon. You’re not used to—”

“Too soon?” Yuuri snapped. He stood from the floor and glared at his father. “You’ve locked me up in here for thirteen years, and you’re saying it’s too _soon?”_

Yuuri’s parents stared at him with wide eyes. Yuuri’s mother looked worried.

“Hey, Yuuri, calm down,” Phichit rose too from the floor and placed a hand on Yuuri’s shoulder.

Hearing his friend’s voice, Yuuri realized what he had just said.

“I-I’m sorry,” he quickly apologized, ducking his head to avoid his parents’ eyes.

Yuuri shrugged Phichit’s hand away and walked out of the room.

 

* * *

 

 

 _Eros, this is all because of Eros,_ Yuuri thought as he arrived in his room. _I can’t have anything I want because of Eros._

Yuuri was angry. For the past years, he’d been trying to understand why his parents sold his freedom to the Nikiforovs. They needed the money because they were in debt and the onsen was almost running out of business. But it was still so unfair. Yuuri couldn’t go outside. He couldn’t go to a normal school like most Wielders. He couldn’t go to the hot springs while there were still guests. He couldn’t go to a real ice rink. But most of all, he couldn’t want something too much.

Yuuri thought of Yuuko as he lay on his bed. He couldn’t want someone too much either. He was afraid that, if he did, Eros would take control. He was afraid that people would only ever like him because of Eros.

He hated it. He hated Eros. And he hated the person who gave it to him. _Viktor._ He hated Viktor. He hated the Nikiforovs.

Yuuri cried himself to sleep that night, letting his pillow muffle the sounds of his sobbing.

 


	3. Regret

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri's mother tells him something he needs to know and something that Yuuri did not expect at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I originally planned Chapter 3 to be the start of the main story, but when I was outlining the chapter, I realized that it would be very very loooong. So I've decided to split it into maybe two or more chapters.

Yuuri woke up to the warmth of the sunlight entering through the gaps in the blinds and to the feeling of his mother's fingers running through his hair. She was humming something, a lullaby perhaps, and it sounded like one of the songs she used to sing Yuuri to sleep when he was younger.

Yuuri's mother smiled down at him when he opened his eyes, but her eyes did not look happy. She was sad, maybe even upset, because Yuuri had talked back to his father yesterday.

"Good morning, Yuuri," said his mother as Yuuri propped himself up on his elbows. His blanket slid down him as he did and it settled on his legs.

"Mother, I..." Yuuri started, pursing his lips when he looked her in the eye. "I'm sorry... for yesterday. I didn't mean to. I--"

"Shh.. It's okay, Yuuri." she said softly as she wrapped him in her embrace. "It's okay."

Yuuri rested his head on his mother's shoulder and hugged her in return. Mother held his head close to her as she kept whispering "it's okay, it's okay" to his ear.

Eventually they break the hug; Yuuri's mother held his hands instead. Yuuri looked down at their joined hands while he waited for what she was going to say.

"Yuuri," she breathed. "I'm sorry."

Yuuri looked at his mother at those words. He was not expecting her to apologize.

"For what?" He asked.

"For all these years..." She trailed off as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Yuuri did not say anymore; he just waited for her to continue.

"Your father and I should have never agreed to the deal," she said. "We never thought that it will be so difficult for you. We just had you and we couldn't pay the hospital fees. The onsen was going out of business and your sister had to start school. We... we were at loss on what we should do."

Yuuri's mother was squeezing his hand then. "It's okay mother, I understand," Yuuri lied. He just didn't want his mother to feel down.

"No Yuuri, I need to tell you," she insisted, squeezing his hands tighter.

When mother saw that Yuuri was getting uncomfortable, she loosened her grip on him. "You need to know," she added.

Yuuri nodded his head and listened to his mother.

“Lilia-san and the Nikiforovs… they, they told me that it would only be temporary,” Yuuri’s mother continued the story.

“Who’s Lilia-san, mother?”

“Ahh Lilia-san, she’s Viktor’s grandmother and an old friend of Minako-senpai. She’s also the one who made the transfer of Eros to your core,” she explained. “Lilia-san said that after the transfer, Eros would become dormant as it tries to get used to your body. She said that when Eros wakes up, by then Viktor would have enough Capacity in his core.”

“And she promised me, Yuuri. She _promised_ me. She promised that Eros won’t take too long, that after four or five years we can give Eros back to Viktor–the same time that Eros had been in Viktor’s body. But even months after your fifth birthday, Eros never woke up.”

Yuuri did not know what to say. He could see tears forming in his mother’s eyes and he could feel how much she had regretted her decision. Instead he asked, “Why? Why didn’t Eros wake up?”

“We… we don’t know. Nobody knew. Not Lilia, not Minako-senpai. We thought maybe Eros just needed more time, so the deal was extended to another five years,” she explained. “The Nikiforovs told me that they’ll continue to send financial support because of it, but that didn’t matter.”

Then Hiroko cupped her hands around Yuuri’s cheeks and looked him in the eye, “When I saw you, already six years old, wanting so much to see the outside world, I just couldn’t take it anymore… It’s my fault that you had to go through so much, and I’m sorry. I never used the money they sent me ever again, even when we needed it. It just felt so wrong…”

Yuuri’s mother removed her hands from her son’s face, tracing them down his shoulders and to his arms until it settled holding Yuuri’s hands again.

“Then mother, why… why is Eros still with me now?” Yuuri had to ask. It’s been three years since Eros woke up, so it should’ve already been transferred back to Viktor.

Yuuri could see the motion in his mother’s throat as she swallowed. “Something went wrong,” she started. “The transfer… it was supposed to be made before Eros recognized you as its new Wielder.”

At those words, Yuuri found himself listening more intently as he leaned a little closer towards her.

 “After your tenth birthday, it was around April, the Nikiforovs came here in Japan,” she continued. “They were planning to stay here in our inn for some time so that they’ll be nearby when Eros wakes up. However, on the day they were supposed to arrive, they called to say that Viktor had disappeared from the hotel room they had been staying in.”

“The transfer couldn’t be made without him,” she explained. “Your father and I thought that we should at least bring you closer to them, so that whenever something happened, they’ll be there for it. But when we went into your room, you also weren’t there.”

“That was the day, Phichit and I went outside,” Yuuri gasped, letting go of his mother’s hands and using his hands to cover his mouth. “The day Eros woke up.”

“Yes,” she confirmed. “You and Phichit were gone for the whole day. We started looking for you all over Hasetsu, but we found only Phichit. He said you got separated in the crowd in the market. Your father and I were already panicking and just as when we were about to go home for the night, I saw you from the distance. I ran to you then, Yuuri. But I was too late.”

“I became Eros’s new Wielder,” Yuuri realized. The hands that were over his mouth were now used to sink his head into.

“I became Eros’s new Wielder,” he repeated as he ruffled one of his hands through his hair. “Not just a Vessel, but its own Wielder!”

Suddenly, everything made sense. Vessels weren’t able to use the magic that they were hosting, but somehow Yuuri could. Yuuri looked back on that day in April when he had snuck out of Yu-topia with Phichit.

 _If I didn’t go out that day, if I hadn’t listened to Phichit, if only I stayed home…_ Yuuri groaned.

Yuuri had never felt more regret in his life. The past three years he had been suffering because of Eros was entirely his fault. He had no one else to blame for it. Yuuri tried to bury his face further into his hands, but seeing that it wasn’t enough he grabbed one of his pillows.

And then he screamed. Yuuri screamed into the pillow as loud as he could and at the same time tried his best to muffle its sound.

And that was all that could be heard in his room–the broken screams, the stifled sobs, and the voice of his mother who was trying to soothe him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's all for now! If I'm not too busy (or lazy), I might be able to update another chapter this week.
> 
> Shout out to me on tumblr about YOI @ sarabelez.tumblr.com


	4. Forward

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri decides to put the past behind him and carves out a new path for his self.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, this chapter had originally gotten into 3.6K words in the draft (and I was still a quarter away from finishing it). Then I realized that I can split that draft into 3 main scenes.... So Chapter 4 comprises 2 out of those 3 main scenes, while the 3rd scene would have to be in the next chapter because THAT was probably longer than the first two main scenes combined.

Before Yuuri went to the studio for Minako’s lessons, he went to one of the onsen’s private baths per his mother’s request. She said he wanted him to relax so that he can think properly about what to do with Eros.

The bath didn’t help. Although the warmth of the water relaxed his body, it did nothing to relax him inside. The privacy he was given only made him want to cry again. He could not escape Eros. When he asked his mother if it was possible for Eros to be transferred to a different Vessel, she told him that it cannot be. She had asked the same question to Minako and the teacher explained to her that if Eros were to be moved again, it might protest. After all, it had taken ten years for it to get used to Yuuri’s body; any more transfers would enrage it, causing it to hurt Yuuri, or worse, rip out his Core.

The thought of his Core getting ripped made Yuuri shudder and curl in on himself. A ripped Core was one of the worst ways to die.

 

* * *

 

Yuuri arrived in Minako’s class with his hair still slightly damp and his eyes red from the crying. His teacher looked at him worriedly and then told him to sit on the floor. They were going to talk again, Yuuri could tell. Minako never let him do ballet if he wasn’t ready for it.

Minako sat across Yuuri. Yuuri kept his head down to avoid meeting her eyes. He didn’t want her to see how pathetic he looked.

After a few minutes of silence, Minako finally spoke, “So what are you going to do about it, Yuuri? Now that you know you are Eros’s true Wielder...”

_I never asked for Eros. I don’t want to have anything to do with it..._

“These past three years, I’ve been teaching you only how to suppress it,” she continued. “That was what your parents wanted. However, I don’t think I can teach you how to truly suppress it. I am just a Reader after all.”

Yuuri winced at those words.

“And lately, Eros has been acting... well, a little wild,” she added.

Yuuri looked at Minako, wondering what she meant.

“It had been dormant for ten years, and well, we have been suppressing it for three years... Now, I think it’s acting like it’s trying to get out, like it’s trying to make you use it. And I guess that would explain the recent incidents when you, as you said, subconsciously used Eros.”

Minako fixed her gaze on the area where Yuuri’s Core was located. “Right now, it has calmed down, but we won’t know when it might get out of control again.”

“It’s time you choose, Yuuri,” she said. “Choose if you want to keep suppressing Eros or if you want to learn how to use Eros.”

“Is that even a question, Minako-sensei?” Yuuri finally spoke.

“I’m afraid it is, Yuuri,” she replied. “I don’t know how long you can keep suppressing it, but I do know that any longer would be at a disadvantage for you. We don’t want what happened with Yuuko to repeat itself, do we?”

 _Yuuko… Of course she found out. Sensei’s a Reader after all._ “I can suppress it,” argued Yuuri, though sounding unsure. He took a deep breath to strengthen his resolve. “I-I’m going… to America.”

Yuuri waited for Minako to argue with him, to tell him that he wasn’t ready for it, to try to convince him why he should stay in Japan. Yuuri had thought of a few arguments to counter with Minako while he was in the onsen and he was ready.

But Minako didn’t yell at him, instead she sighed and said, “I knew it.”

“Huh?”

“Well, America really is the only answer here. I can’t imagine you wanting to ever use Eros, so I figured you’d choose to go to America with Celestino. Like I said yesterday evening, the school there has a lot of Psychics for teachers. They’ll be able to teach you more than I ever could.”

“So… you’re letting me go?” Yuuri asked. He didn’t expect Minako, of all people, to just agree to this. She had always been telling Yuuri what to do and what not to do in order to keep Eros under control. She was always disciplining him, more than his own parents even did.

“Who am I to hold you back?” And with those words, Minako ended the conversation.

Yuuri smiled at her, grateful that he didn’t have to argue with her. He respected her as his teacher and he didn’t want to be on bad terms with her.

 

* * *

 

Yuuri was greeted by Phichit with a hug the moment his friend saw him entering the backyard.

“Yuuri, I am so sorry!” said Phichit as he squeezed him tightly.

Yuuri was baffled by the sudden apology. “Huh? Why are you apologizing, Phichit-kun?” he asked while he struggled to loosen his friend’s grasp on him so that he could breathe.

Phichit finally let him go. “Ciao-ciao told me about what happened on that day when Eros well, you know… Oh, I’m sorry Yuuri! I had no idea.”

Yuuri smiled at his friend to assure him that he didn’t blame him. “It’s okay, Phichit-kun,” he said. “It wasn’t your fault. I was just as excited as you were when we got out.”

“But still! I really messed up. Oh, Yuuri, I am so so sorry.”

“Really, Phichit-kun, it’s fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, I am definitely sure.”

Then Yuuri noticed Phichit release a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Whew, I seriously thought you were going to hate me,” confessed Phichit.

At that, Yuuri laughed. “I would never hate you… although, I admit, you can be quite annoying.”

Phichit pouted at Yuuri and crossed his arms, but then he couldn’t help but laugh too.

 

* * *

 

 

Phichit and Yuuri sat on the bench in the backyard. It was still too early for Celestino’s lessons, so they decided to laze around while they can. Yuuri was sitting on one corner with legs outstretched and ankles crossed in front of him. Phichit was by his side, reading the school brochure he got from Celestino and occasionally showing Yuuri some pictures of the school campus.

“It’s a boarding school, Yuuri,” said Phichit as he showed a picture of the dormitory building to Yuuri. “This is going to be exciting! I wonder if we get to choose our own roommates.”

Yuuri took the brochure from Phichit. When he saw the picture of the building, his eyes went wide. _Is this what dormitories are supposed to look like?_ The building was rather tall, probably up to four to five floors. And it was definitely wider than Yu-topia. It was built out of red bricks and the entire building was accented by the white color of the window frames and the verandas.  Each side of the lane leading to the entrance was dotted with tall trees and beside the lane was a wide grassy open-space square. Yuuri didn’t know much about America (heck, he didn’t even know much about his own country), but just from looking at that picture, he could tell that it was going to be a whole lot different from Japan.

Yuuri wondered how he could ever cope with the changes, but then he shook his head to throw that thought away. He had decided on this, and there was no way he would turn back on his word.

Yuuri’s eyes flitted back to the picture on the brochure. The Detroit Academy for Wielders was a renowned school. It was probably quite expensive too. Yuuri wondered how his parents were going to pay for it. Then he remembered his mother mentioning about never using the Nikiforov’s money. _Does that mean she still has it? Or had she thrown it away?_ Yuuri can’t really picture his mother throwing away money, even if it was from the Nikiforovs. She was a rather thrifty person.

Yuuri returned the brochure to Phichit and said, “Well, I do hope we get to choose our own roommates. I wouldn’t be comfortable in sharing a room with anyone else but you.”

“Oh Yuuri, that’s so sweet of you…” Phichit cooed as he draped his arms around Yuuri’s shoulders.

Yuuri shrugged him away and said, “That’s only because I wouldn’t know how to interact with other people, and you know that, Phichit-kun.”

“Oh Yuuri, you’re being mean. How could you lift me up only to pull me back down?” Phichit moped as he slumped on the bench.

Yuuri only laughed.

Then as if an idea struck him, Phichit straightened his back and then grabbed Yuuri by the shoulders. “Hey, hey, Yuuri, do you think Victoria would be there?”

“What the–” Yuuri started as he removed Phichit’s hands away from him. “Phichit-kun! Why are you even thinking about that? Seriously, you’re still teasing me about Victoria?”

Phichit was unbelievable. He was always teasing Yuuri about some girl he randomly met three years ago and would probably never see again.

“Well, I thought I’d give you someone else to obsess on other than _Phii_ Yuuko,” argued Phichit. “You won’t be seeing her once you left, you know.”

“I know.” Yuuri had thought about it a lot and decided that he would never change his mind. Yuuko was one of the reasons that pushed him to go to America. “But you know what,” added Yuuri. “I think it will be better that I won’t see Yuuko anymore. It would probably make it easier.”

Phichit breathed, “So you finally agree with me?”

“Huh?”

“Seriously Yuuri, you’ve been crushing on her like–when?­ Since the day you were born? –I get that she’s the only one around your age that you get to see here often, but really though, it was getting–I hope you don’t mind me saying this–unhealthy, you know? You wouldn’t confess your feelings and yet you keep sulking over her. I have long been trying to get your mind off her.”

“Yeah,” Yuuri agreed. “I think it’s time I stop thinking about her.”

“And speaking of Yuuko,” said Phichit, raising an eyebrow. “What was that about yesterday, hm?”

“Oh, right,” said Yuuri, unwinding his ankles and sitting more properly. He forgot telling Phichit important stuff… again. He turned his body towards Phichit but he kept his head low as he said, “That was… uhmm, I asked Yuuko to hang out with me.”

Phichit eyes widened and a grin slowly appeared on his face. “You did wha-?! Really, you asked her out?”

Phichit’s reaction was exaggerated. It was like Yuuri had asked Yuuko on a date instead of just a casual meet-up with a friend. And it was like he wasn’t just talking about wanting Yuuri to move on just a few minutes ago.

“No, I asked her to _hang out_ with me,” clarified Yuuri. “But no, it wasn’t really me though.”

“What do you mean it wasn’t really you? You said _you_ asked her to hang out and now you’re saying that _you didn’t_ —“

“It was Eros,” said Yuuri. Phichit shut up.

Yuuri slumped more on his seat, his arms resting on his lap. Remembering what had happened yesterday still made Yuuri uneasy.

“Oh,” Phichit said after a while. “okay.”

Yuuri breathed in deeply and then exhaled slowly, rubbing his clammy hands together as he did. “It was Eros,” he said again.

“So was that why you, well, you know, yesterday…” Phichit asked. He must had been referring to Yuuri’s sudden outburst at his father.

“Yeah, pretty much,” replied Yuuri. He then stood and stretched his arms above him. “But I’m putting that all behind me now. I’m going to America Phichit-kun and try to live a different life. Minako-sensei said the teachers there can help me.”

“That’s great, Yuuri,” said Phichit. “And don’t forget, I’ll be there too!” Phichit rose from his seat so that he can place a hand on Yuuri’s shoulder. “You won’t be alone,” said Phichit, smiling at Yuuri.

“Thanks, Phichit-kun.” Yuuri smiled back.

 

* * *

 

 

“Stop thinking about putting spikes on it, Phichit!” Celestino yelled. Phichit’s shield had broken for the fifth time since he had been trying to form one during training that afternoon. “Look at, Yuuri! He’s finally getting the hang of it.”

Yuuri ducked his head upon hearing his coach’s words. He didn’t want to be compared as someone better than his friend. They’re not competing after all, and he didn’t want to put Phichit in such a hot seat.

Yuuri had managed not to let his Ice melt, but his shield was still far from looking like an actual shield. The least he could do was form a layer of ice around his arm and let it stay there for at least three minutes before it cracked. (At least it didn’t melt this time.)

Phichit, however, Yuuri had to admit (although he would never say it out loud), was far from making any progress. Phichit couldn’t hold his Ice for more than a minute; it would break seconds after the first layer was formed. For a moment, Yuuri wondered that maybe something was troubling his friend, but then he remembered that earlier Phichit was talking about some kind of western cartoon where one of the female characters would wrap her body in ice to shield herself attacks while she plunged into the enemy army. Yep, Phichit was just trying to copy that move. It was obviously distracting him.

Yuuri felt his Ice crack around his arm as his mind got distracted to the sound of his friend’s voice complaining. Yuuri let out a groan because he had almost reached two minutes in holding that attempt. But looking back on how he had tried that move two days ago, this was progress at least.

 

* * *

 

 

Yuuri had decided that he would not let Eros get in the way of his life. But first, he had to get away from home, out of his comfort zone. He remembered the words of his sister Mari before she left home for college: “There are some things about yourself that you can only learn about when you’re alone.” He will go to America and learn exactly what those things were. All his life, he had been revolving around the world of Eros; it was time he changed that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, that's all for now! I'm not sure if I can release a chapter next week because I have to get ready for an art exhibit, but I'll try to finish chapter 5 by Saturday next week as much as I can. Thanks for reading!


	5. Trust

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri and Phichit train and review for the entrance exam in the Detroit Academy for Wielders. And Celestino takes them outside for a change of environment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I SWEAR this was supposed to be the chapter where Mari finally makes an appearance, but then I realized that the first part of the chapter could stand off on its own. If I were to merge the first part and the Mari part, it would look like two pieces of cloths of a different color being forcefully sewed together. So sorry Mari, you'll have to wait next chapter.

During dinner, Yuuri’s parents and teachers discussed about the plans of sending him to America. His father was reluctant to talk about it, but he had agreed anyway to support Yuuri. The rest of the conversation was focused on how Yuuri and Phichit could apply for a student visa, the enrolment process, tuition and boarding fees, and other relevant stuff that Yuuri had no idea about.

At one point, the adults dwelled too long about how Yuuri and Phichit can get into the DAW since they had not attended school before, being home-schooled ever since they were young. Yuuri’s father used this as an opportunity to try to convince Yuuri to change his mind, but Celestino quickly inserted that he would talk it over with his friend who was working in the school. They can just let Phichit and Yuuri take the entrance exam and see whether they pass or not. It’s not like being home-schooled made them any less literate than those who had gone to school. Yuuri couldn’t understand why his father was still hesitant about letting him go since his mother had completely agreed to it.

 

* * *

 

 

The following months cursorily passed by as Yuuri and Phichit were constantly being drilled by their teachers on their past lessons to prepare them for the entrance exam. Minako reviewed them on the history and rules of the Wielders’ Society, on the different theories and practices of different kinds of magic, and at the same time studied on the basic academic subjects that even the Non-Wielders learned about in their school.

Celestino, on the other hand, had taken the two students outside for a change of environment in their training; specifically, they went to Ice Castle, where they could be in touch with their own element. Yuuri’s parents had agreed to let their son go, saying that it would be best for him to discover new places and meet different people since he would be leaving for America soon.

 

* * *

 

 

Yuuri couldn’t help but have flashbacks on the time he had snuck out of Yu-topia before when he stepped outside it for the second time. He, Phichit, and Celestino first stopped by the market because Celestino wanted to buy beforehand the snacks that they would eat after training. Yuuri made sure to stay close to Celestino and he also held on to Phichit’s hand as they traversed through the throng of people. Phichit didn’t question Yuuri why he was holding on to him; he only squeezed Yuuri’s hand the entire time. The marketplace was where Yuuri had gotten separated from; Yuuri didn’t want to get lost again for fear of what could happen to him.

After minutes of walking around, the three of them finally arrived at the bakery where Celestino could buy some kind of Italian bread called  _Pizza Bianca_. Yuuri glanced around while he and Phichit waited for Celestino and he noticed that the place seemed more familiar than the shops they had passed by earlier. Then his eyes slid to focus on the quaint little ice cream shop right across the street.

 _Oh, so that’s why it’s so familiar,_ Yuuri thought. It was around this place where Yuuri had met _her_. Yuuri had almost felt like crying when he had gotten lost but he tried to hold back his tears because he didn’t want to embarrass himself in public. When a taller girl had accidentally bumped into him while he was wandering around, Yuuri fell onto the floor and then all the tears he’d been holding up fell too. He had started wailing, calling for his parents, Phichit, or anyone who could help him get back home.

The girl who had bumped into him had started speaking in a language Yuuri couldn’t recognize. He had looked up at her through his teary eyes and then he had seen that she had looked nervous and guilty, probably thinking that she had hurt Yuuri. But no, Yuuri wasn’t crying because he fell, he was crying because he had gotten lost and that was not the girl’s fault. Yuuri had rubbed at his eyes and managed to stop himself from crying. The girl had helped him up to his feet and apologized to him in English. When Yuuri had replied to her that he was okay also in English, she beamed and started talking about how grateful she was to have finally met someone who could understand her.

When they exchanged names, Yuuri had quickly given his first name but she, she had seemed hesitant about giving her name to him. But she did anyway, and her name was Victoria.

Victoria had led Yuuri to that ice cream shop right across the bakery where he, Phichit, and Celestino were in right now. She was very kind and friendly, and Yuuri had immediately opened up to her. They had talked about a variety of topics and Yuuri felt happy the entire time he was around her. It was like she was radiating a kind of cheerful warmth that made everyone around her feel happy too.

Yuuri’s eyes softened and the corners of his mouth twitched when he fondly recalled that memory.

 

* * *

 

 

When the three of them arrived in Ice Castle, Yuuri felt another surge of nostalgia. He took a look at the ice rink before him and remembered Victoria again. Yuuri had skated there with her before. Yuuri had always thought that he would be skating with Yuuko the first time he’d get to an actual ice rink, but no, it was Victoria. And Victoria was really really good at it too, way better than him and Yuuko. She said skating was her favorite hobby and that her house was located nearby an ice rink.

Yuuri noticed Phichit smirking at him, so he asked him, “What?”

“Oh, nothing,” Phichit replied with a teasing tone in his voice. “Just thinking about how dazed you look when you’re daydreaming about a pretty girl.”

“Uugh…” Yuuri groaned, rolling his eyes and turning away from Phichit. Phichit was never going to stop teasing him about her. Yuuri understood that his friend was trying to help him forget Yuuko, but seriously his teasing was way too much.

 

* * *

 

 

This time, Celestino was teaching the two boys how to use their magic with a different part of their bodies instead of just their hands and arms. In case they would ever get into a situation where their hands or arms are tied up, then the ability to fully coordinate their Energies with their bodies would come in handy.

Celestino stepped onto the ice rink with his bare feet and told his students to watch him carefully. Yuuri and Phichit, with their skates on, stayed by the edge of the rink as they observed their coach demonstrate how to use Ice with his feet.

Celestino started walking around to get a feel of the ice beneath his feet, and then he was slowly sliding in a circular motion. After a few minutes, he picked up the pace and started _skating_ without ice skates.

Yuuri and Phichit watched with amazement as they saw their teacher now speeding around the entire rink. Celestino was melting the ice beneath him as he skated. After doing three laps of circling the rink, Ice appeared around Celestino’s feet, turning into some kind of make-shift ice skates. Celestino circled the rink one more time and then he slid to a stop at where his two students were.

“So, you think you guys are ready for this?” he asked them.

With no hesitation at all, the two boys answered a big “YES!” in unison. Skating on ice without skates looked really cool.

 

* * *

 

 

About an hour and a half later, they had to exit the rink because more people were now using it. Celestino didn’t want to disturb anyone. Phichit whined because he had wanted to get some more practice in. Yuuri, however, was partly thankful that they were leaving. It was getting quite uncomfortable when people started gathering around them to see them train. His sister had told him before that Wielders were quite rare in Hasetsu, so seeing three of them all gathered in one place must have been quite an attention-grabber.

 

* * *

 

 

The three of them walked their way back to Yu-topia. Celestino was leading the way while Yuuri and Phichit trailed behind him, chatting about how their training went.  Then as they took a turn in the street, Yuuri stopped abruptly, suddenly remembering something. Phichit walked on, not noticing him and continuing to talk about how hard it was to direct his Energy to his feet instead of his hands.

Yuuri turned his head to look back at the curve of the street. He noticed the familiar cherry tree that was at the side of it. It wasn’t in bloom, unlike when he had first seen it three years ago. That was where he parted ways with Victoria.

When Victoria had to leave, he was heartbroken. Looking back on it, Yuuri thought it was silly of him to feel that way for someone he had just met, not to mention that he was only ten years old, but then he couldn’t really find a different word to accurately explain how he had felt. It was as if something important had been taken away from him and all his instincts were telling him to turn around, pulling him to run back to Victoria. However when he did turn around, she was no longer there.

And right after that was when Eros had awoken.

Yuuri had started feeling something like a severe heartburn. He had sank to his feet, clutching at his chest. He was sweating a lot, his body was heating up, and he was having difficulty breathing. He had felt like he was about to explode. Then he had heard his mother’s voice from the distance. He had turned around and seen her running towards him, behind her was his father, Phichit, Celestino and Minako. They all had gathered around him in a circle. Minako had told him to try to breathe normally and so he did, but it had done nothing to abate the situation he was in. His vision had went hazy afterwards and he couldn’t remember what had happened next. All he could remember before blacking out was the movement of Minako’s lips as she chanted something that sounded like a spell, the words fading out as everything else around him did.

Yuuri’s mind was brought back to the present when someone rested a hand on his shoulder. He turned his head to see Phichit looking at him curiously.

“Hey Yuuri, what’s wrong?” Phichit asked.

“Nothing, just…” Yuuri started, his eyes drifting to look back at the cherry tree. By this time, Celestino had stopped walking and called out to them.

Yuuri left his words hanging, shrugging them off, and telling Phichit that nothing was really wrong. They started walking again and not long after, they arrived at Yu-topia.

Yuuri thought about how much his life had been evolving around Eros, but then he realized something that he would have never thought of before: Some of the good things in Yuuri’s life wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for Eros. If it weren’t for Eros, he would’ve gone to a normal Wielders’ school like his sister, then he wouldn’t have met Phichit and Celestino. If it weren’t for Eros, he wouldn’t have met Victoria. Even if it was only for a while, he was grateful that he met her.

Yuuri thought about his encounter with Victoria and it made him feel braver. He had been scared and alone, but when Victoria came everything became better. Yuuri thought that whatever may happen once he started his journey in America, there will be someone like her to help him through it; be it Phichit, Celestino, or someone else, he trusted in the future and allowed himself to flow into its uncertainty.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a little filler chapter for now... but next chapter, we'll have Mari. I can't wait to write her part in this story. We're almost over with the what I'd like to call as the Hasetsu Arc of this fic, then we'll be moving on to the High School Arc. There will also be a College arc, but I don't know what chapter it would start because my outline had become utterly useless. Chapter 3-6 were outlined as just one chapter (could you imagine??), but then I changed my mind.


	6. Winter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is an overview of what happened in the months before Yuuri has to leave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I felt so calm and relaxed while writing this chapter and everything felt so good and I hope you'd feel that too. Or maybe not... depends on how you look at it.

All throughout summer Yuuri and Phichit were busy with their reviews and trainings. Meanwhile, the adults took care of all the necessary files that they will need for their flight to America and admission in the academy. Celestino kept contacting Phichit’s mother to inform her of how things will be for her son; he had volunteered to manage Phichit’s paperworks for her.

Yuuri had a hectic schedule, but he didn’t mind it. It gave him a distraction from Yuuko and also an excuse to tell her why he couldn’t hang out with her unlike before. Yuuko had pouted at him and then tried to sway Yuuri and Phichit for a little game together. Phichit knew that Yuuri was avoiding her, so out of respect for his best friend, he politely declined.

Yuuri knew that the way he was treating Yuuko was unfair for her, but he also knew that it would be for the best. It was difficult for Yuuri as well. Sometimes he just wanted to run to Yuuko and chat with her after a long day of practice, skate with her on the frozen hot spring, or just simply be around her… just like when they were younger, when life was so much simpler.

But every time Yuuri was about to act on his feelings, he would feel the familiar aura of Eros stir within him. And he knew. He knew that he just can’t do it, because if he did he can’t help but ask for a little more. A little more time with Yuuko. A little more friendly chatter. A little more playful games with her. But a little more would turn to be too much, and he can’t take it. He can’t stop it, so it was best to act like he didn’t care that much to find time for her.

Yuuko eventually gave up in getting Yuuri and Phichit to take a break and spend some time with her just to have fun. Whenever she’d visit, she would content herself with just watching the two go about their routine. And as the days passed, Yuuko stopped visiting Yu-topia. She would go to Ice Castle instead with her friends from school, including Nishigori. Yuuri hadn’t see her much since then. The rest of the summer seemed cold but Yuuri didn’t find that odd at all.

 

* * *

 

The summer days eventually faded, making way for autumn. Leaves from the trees in the backyard fell slowly to the ground, blanketing the place with an earthy smell.

November came and then Yuuri’s birthday. After blowing out the candles on his cake, Yuuri realized that he would no longer be a child. He was only fourteen, yes, but he had been through a whole lot more than a normal teenager in the past years. Also, soon enough, Yuuri would be building his own life–a life that he is in control of, away from his family, away from home, and away from Eros. Like how the leaves were changing color, Yuuri’s life was going to change too. And he was going to change it for the better.

 

* * *

 

 

Autumn passed and then came winter.

By mid-December, the Katsuki family started decorating the place with Christmas decorations; they have even placed a small Christmas tree in the corner of the living room. Yuuri and Phichit put the balls, ribbons, bells and then finally the star on the tree. When they were done with those, they looped the Christmas lights around it and they would turn it on every night until the twenty-fifth.

Yuuri’s sister was coming home for Christmas. She intended to stay in Hasetsu for a week before going back to Fukuoka. Hiroko closed the onsen the day before her arrival so that they can do a general cleaning of the house. Yuuri was the one who cleaned Mari’s room, sweeping and then mopping the floors, airing out the bed and then changing its sheets.

The family hadn’t seen Mari since she left to study in a Wielders’ university in Fukuoka, so everyone was very excited to see her again.

Yuuri wondered how life was like for her, studying in a place that was far from her family. He wasn’t exactly close with her, partly because of the six-year age gap. She also didn’t spend that much time with Yuuri while she was still staying in Hasetsu. She would always leave early for school because of the hour and a half travel time needed for her to arrive at the academy that was also in Fukuoka, since there were no Wielders’ schools in Hasetsu. And when she came home, it was always around six or seven in the evening partly because of the travel time and mostly because she and her friends from class would hang out a little after school. Mari would be so tired by then that all she would do was to eat dinner, take a bath, and then stay in her room the whole night to work on her assignments.

Mari wasn’t always there, but during the short moments that she was she would remind Yuuri that he was loved. Yuuri had cried to her a few times before, ranting about how unfair his parents were, and Mari had been there to listen to him. She would try to make him understand their parents and let him know that they didn’t love him any less. Yuuri loved her, despite not being really close with her, and he knows that his sister loved him back too.

 

* * *

 

Mari arrived on the day before Christmas and everyone came to greet her when she entered through the doorway, even Celestino and Phichit, who don’t really know Mari that much.

“Welcome home, Mari!” said Hiroko and Toshiya as they pulled their daughter in for a double hug.

“I’m home,” Mari replied, breaking the hug so she can look at them.

Minako approached her and snaked an arm around her shoulders. “Welcome back, kiddo!” she said and then added, “And it looks like you’ve lost some weight.”

Mari chuckled. “Yeah, the college life is sure stressing me out.”

“Oh dear! Have you been eating well, Mari?” asked Hiroko.

“I still eat three meals a day,” replied Mari. “Even if sometimes it’s just junkfoods and softdrinks.”

At that, Yuuri heard Phichit laugh.

“Your sister really is a fun person, Yuuri,” said Phichit. He and Yuuri were standing a few feet away from where everyone was circling around Mari.

“Yeah,” said Yuuri, looking at her sister from afar.

Toshiya was then lecturing Mari about not wasting her money so that she can buy herself a proper meal and Minako was yelling about how drinking too much softdrinks will make her have a big tummy. It was only after Hiroko intervened between the three of them that everyone decided to proceed to the dining room for the Christmas dinner.

 

* * *

 

After dinner, they had all gathered in the living room. Mari gave everyone their Christmas presents and then she shared about her fun college experiences. Soon, evening turned to night and people started retiring to their room

“Hey Yuuri,” called Mari just when Yuuri was about to turn to the corridor that led to his room. “Come to my room for a while; there’s something else that I’d like to give you.”

“What is it?” Yuuri asked. Mari had already given him a lot of souvenirs so he wondered what more could his sister want to give him.

“I think it’s better if I just show you said Mari. “It’s in my room right now, so come with me.”

“Okay,” said Yuuri, allowing himself to be led by Mari to her room.

When they arrived at her room, Mari told Yuuri to sit on her bed while she rummages her luggage for the present. Yuuri watched his sister open the zipper of the luggage and then take out some of her clothes. At the bottom of her clothes was a small black box, with a little red ribbon, that was around the size of a matchbox but wider. She pulled it out then dumped her clothes back inside without bothering to arrange them properly. She then sat on the bed beside Yuuri, holding the box on her right hand and presenting it to him.

“Magical charms aren’t really my thing,” she said. “but when I heard from mother and father that you’ll be going abroad, I really felt the need to make this.”

Yuuri looked at the box curiously and then looked at his sister, who was smiling at him the whole time and her eyes were beckoning him to take it. Yuuri took the box from her with one hand and then opened it. Inside was a small square gemstone that had golden and smoky brown tones. When he took the gemstone out of the box, a silver cable chain followed and it was then that Yuuri realized that it was a necklace.

Yuuri took the entire necklace out and then set the box aside on the bed. He examined the gemstone closely and he saw that something started to move inside it. Yuuri closed one eye so he can get a clearer look. The thing moving inside it looked like fire dancing in small sparks. Yuuri knew it was a magical charm–his sister had said that–but he wondered what it was for and why she had decided to give it to him. He set his hand down and then turned to his sister.

“Mari-neechan, thank you for this,” he said. “But what’s this for?”

“Like I said, it’s a magical charm,” Mari started, taking the necklace from Yuuri’s hand and then opening its clasp. “The gemstone is a yellow topaz. I don’t know much about jewelry so I had to have a friend help me choose what kind will be suited for you. And then she recommended to just use your birthstone to save me from the trouble of researching about different kinds of gems.”

Mari chuckled lightly and then held out the necklace in front of Yuuri. Yuuri, taking the hint, turned his back around so that Mari can put the necklace on him. After closing the clasp, Yuuri turned his body towards her again and he saw her smiling, looking at the necklace.

“It suits you,” she said. “Not as much as the color blue, but the brownish yellow definitely complements your eyes.”

“Thanks,” said Yuuri, looking down at the gem.

“This charm is a kind of Cleanser,” explained Mari after some time. “Another friend of mine, who is a Healer, helped me make it. We designed it to be able to relieve stress and it also helps the user achieve err…umm–how do I say this?–ah, _clarity,_ or something like that. You know, something like emotional stability and other stuff.”

“Oh,” said Yuuri, amazed. He held the gem and looked at it, noticing the flame-like thing dancing inside it again. “So, how does this work?”

“You just hold it firmly in your hands,” she explained. “And then let your Energy flow into it. The gem then _cleanses_ the Energy and let it flow back into you.”

“Okay, but how exactly does that help relieve stress and achieve, as you said, _clarity?”_ Yuuri asked. “It’s only the magic that gets cleansed, right? It’s not like my mind is attached to it.”

“That’s somewhat true,” said Mari. “But a part of us _is_ in the magic, Yuuri. What defines us as Wielders is how much of ourselves can we show through our magic. That’s what one of my teachers told us in class one day when he was discussing about Materialization.”

Yuuri put on a tight-lipped smile as he tried to process that information. If it were just Ice, he would have agreed with Mari right away. Yuuri is Ice and the Ice is within him. With Ice, he feels calm, collected, and happy. But Eros… Eros was different. Yuuri cannot imagine himself being a part of Eros or the other way around. But then again, Eros wasn’t originally his. It was imposed on him, so maybe this whole “part-of-us-in-the-magic” thing won’t apply to it.

“Yuuri?” said Mari because Yuuri had stayed silent for a while.

“Um, what’s Materialization?” Yuuri asked in order to fill in the silence.

“Oh, it’s something about converting a part of your magic into an item instead of just using the magic as a fuel of sorts. Something like that. I still don’t understand much about it though, but that’s the gist of it,” she explained.

“Oh okay” was all Yuuri said before going silent again. He was now absentmindedly playing around with the chain of the necklace and averting his eyes away from Mari.

“Yuuri,” said Mari. “I know you’ve already been through a lot in your life, but I want to ask a favor from you.”

At that, Yuuri turned his head to meet her eyes. She looked serious but also worried.

“I want you to try to be happy, Yuuri,” she said.

Yuuri’s head tilted in confusion and he tried to search for some answers in his sister’s eyes. “Mari-neechan, what do you mean?” he asked. It wasn’t like he was sad or angry at the moment. In fact, he was actually happy because his sister was there with him.

“Promise me that you won’t pressure yourself over Eros,” she said. “Promise me that when you go out there, you will learn how to befriend new people, laugh with them, hang out with them, live a happy life, and most of all learn how to love.”

Yuuri’s mouth went agape. Love. He cannot possibly love. If he tried, Eros will take over and then it won’t be love. It cannot be love. Because Eros was not Yuuri.

“Yuuri,” his sister said, tone firmer this time. “I want you to enjoy your life so please, promise me.”

Yuuri sighed, his back slumping, and said, “I promise.” The lie came out heavily from his lips.

Yuuri knew his sister could see through him but she just smiled at him. And when it was time for Yuuri to exit her room, Mari said a “Merry Christmas” before letting him out.

Yuuri retired to his room. His mind was filled with a million different thoughts and all of them were screaming at him that he could never love.

When winter had passed, Yuuri didn't realize that spring would not come next.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Hasetsu Arc is over! Next chapter begins the adventures in Detroit~


	7. To Heal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri says goodbye to Yuuko and he's off to start a new life in Detroit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKaaay.... I had a really hard time writing this chapter so I'm afraid it might not reach up to your expectations. Forgive me if that would be the case. This one is like a filler chapter.. and i hate writing fillers and all those little scenes

Yuuri opened the luggage his parents lended him and placed his clothes inside. He tucked them closely together to make sure he would still have space for his other stuff. On top of his clothes, he placed his towel and beside the clothes, he placed his shoes and slippers, all wrapped up in a plastic. In the zipper compartment found on the inside of the lid of the luggage, he placed his toothbrush and other toiletries.

Yuuri made sure to pack only the stuff that he would be really needing because Celestino had said that there was a weight limit on the stuff they’re allowed to bring. And so Yuuri had spent the entire morning of the day before their flight in sorting out the things he had as either necessary or unnecessary.

Inside his backpack, he placed the travel guide books Minako gave him the other day, along with the Japanese-English Dictionary he had his father buy. Even though Yuuri had been speaking English a lot since he was a kid, he thought he’d rather be prepared in case he’d forget a word instead of completely relying on his vocabulary.

Those books were all a part of the Necessary group, together with the family picture taken from last Christmas, the supplies he’d be needing for school, his skating shoes, a packet of a powder of milk (just in case he’d have trouble sleeping), and some other stuff.

Yuuri came across his old bottle cap collection from a box in a drawer under his closet. He and Phichit used to have contests on who could collect the most bottle caps and the loser would have to do whatever the winner wanted for a day. Yuuri always lost. He had wondered then if Phichit was some kind of Psychic who could picture in his mind where exactly the bottle caps were. The bottle caps Yuuri collected were precious to Yuuri; it held a lot of fun memories, but he knew he wouldn’t have any use for them in Detroit. As much as he wanted to bring those along with him, he set them aside for the Unnecessary group, knowing full well that they’ll be right there in his room when he came home.

Next, he sorted out the socks. The socks that were already sagging or too small for him were grouped together with the bottle caps, while Yuuri kept the socks that actually still fit him. The entire morning went on like that, just sorting through his things:

Mom’s handmade sweater gift? Necessary (even though he had already packed so many sweaters).

His teddy bear that he slept with every night? Unnecessary (this was a very hard decision for him).

The mug Phichit gave (but then accidentally broke), Necessary. (Yuuri was using it as his pen holder).

Celestino’s Handbook of Class Rules, Unnecessary.

Scrabble Board, Necessary.

And he went on, and on, and on…

But then Yuuri came across an old coloring book. It was quite dusty, having been tucked away in the very bottom of the drawer. When Yuuri got a glimpse of the first page as he turned to open it, he held his breath for then he remembered what it was. It was a drawing book that Yuuko had given to him as a gift for his tenth birthday. Yuuri remembered that she had doodled on every page simple drawings about her friendship with him. Yuuri let the page he was holding fell from his touch. He couldn’t open it. He shouldn’t open it. Hastily, he shoved the notebook back into the drawer and placed on top of it the other stuff he had took out. It was unnecessary.

Some things in the past didn’t need to resurface and disrupt the present.

 

* * *

 

On the day of their flight Minako and, of course, her niece Yuuko, had come to Yu-topia to see Yuuri, Phichit, and Celestino off. Yuuri tried his best to act normal around Yuuko–his best resulting into him obviously avoiding her, refusing to have eye contact with her that lasted long. Yuuri wasn’t sure if he was imagining it, but he thought he glimpsed Yuuko giving him a weird look several times

When it was time for Yuuri, Phichit and Celestino to leave for the airport, Yuuko called out to Yuuri as she ran to him at the gate

Yuuri continued walking, his body tensing up, as his mind tried to shut out the voice that called him.

“Hey Yuuri, she’s coming here,” said Phichit, nudging Yuuri with his elbow.

Yuuko called again, and this time she was right behind Yuuri. And Yuuri knew that if he was not gonna turn around soon, then his parents, Minako, and Celestino, whose eyes he could feel on him, would think that something was wrong with him.

Yuuri turned around and saw Yuuko’s eyes brimming with tears.

“E-eh? Yuuko, what’s wrong?” Yuuri asked, his voice cracking.

Yuuko didn’t answer.

Instead, she threw her arms around Yuuri, squeezing him into a hug… and she started sobbing, her tears dampening Yuuri’s shirt.

“Yuuri!” she cried. And Yuuri didn’t know what to do at that moment. He was not expecting that at all. His arms were in the air, unsure of what to do with them. He glanced around and saw everyone looking at them. He turned his attention to Phichit, his eyes asking him what he should do. Phichit just replied by shrugging his shoulders and giving an “I dunno” look.

Slowly, Yuuri lowered his arms and rested one hand on Yuuko’s back.

“Um, Yuuko,” he started. “Are you alright?”

Yuuko broke the hug and started rubbing at her eyes to stop the tears from falling. “I’m gonna miss you, Yuuri-kun,” she sniffled.

And those four words, those four words were all that it took for Yuuri’s walls to crumble. Those were all that it took for Yuuri to cry, louder than Yuuko even had. All that it took for him to want to stay for a while.

Yuuko was always there for him. Before Phichit, she was all Yuuri had. She was also his best friend. They were practically even friends since there were toddlers.

Yuuko hugged Yuuri again and it only made Yuuri feel a pang of guilt inside him. How could he… how could he betray Yuuko? He had been ignoring her for the past months and avoiding her whenever possible. How could he have done that when Yuuko had done nothing to him? Yuuko had been kind and caring and smiling all the time, always wanting to make Yuuri happy, and yet Yuuri had taken all of those for granted.

When Yuuko tightened her hug, Yuuri’s tears fell like waterfalls down his cheeks. He finally hugged Yuuko back, nuzzling into the crook of her neck, wanting to keep her close while he still could.

It was all Yuuri’s fault why he can’t be friends with Yuuko. He had been stupid to fall in love with her and never doing anything about it because he was afraid. And Yuuri realized that throughout the past months, he had been punishing Yuuko for a mistake that she did not make. Yuuri thought he was saving himself, saving their friendship by shutting her out, but oh how wrong he was.

“I’m going to miss you too, Yuu-chan,” Yuuri admitted and it felt like a heavy weight on his chest was lifted away and all that was left was a hollow ache that Yuuri knew was going to take some time before it would fully go away. “I’m going to miss you a lot.”

 

* * *

And then…

Yuuri left for Detroit while Yuuko stayed in Hasetsu.

 

* * *

 

“Let’s make the most of our time here, Yuuri!” Phichit said as he dived into one of the two beds in the room, claiming it as his.

Yuuri placed his luggage by the side and settled on the bed at the right, feeling the mattress dip in as he did.

“Yeah,” Yuuri replied. “Let’s.”

 Yuuri held unto the necklace his sister had given him. He was going to need magic, he thought, in order to make it through.

He had made up his mind that he was never going to allow himself to be attached to someone the way he had been attached to Yuuko. He didn’t want to feel that way ever again. It was too much, too much for him to feel, too much for him to think about.

 

* * *

 

 

On the first day of class, Yuuri and Phichit walked into their classroom for homeroom together. Yuuri stayed behind Phichit, letting him pick the seats where they would sit. They were the first students in the room for they had come an hour early on Yuuri’s insistence. Yuuri wanted to get used to the feeling of the classroom and mentally ready himself for when he would inevitably have to interact with others. They sat on the third row from the back and Phichit quickly claimed the seat by the window, Yuuri sat himself beside his friend.

As time ticked by, more students started filling up the room. Phichit said hi to every new student that entered after them. It wasn’t long after that Phichit actually knew the names of all their new classmates. But not Yuuri; Yuuri found that he was not good in remembering people’s names.

Phichit also quickly made friends with two of their classmates. One said he was Chinese and he was shorter than both Yuuri and Phichit. He had brown hair and brown eyes. His name was Ji Guang-hong, a Healer.

The other one was Mexican-American, a Smith named Leo de La Iglesia. He was a bit taller than Guang-hong and he had tan skin.

The four of them were seated close to each other and they easily found themselves in small talk. Yuuri was quite awkward though and how he wished he had Phichit’s natural talent in keeping up with the conversation. Most of the time, Yuuri was just going with the flow, not really talking much about himself and just nodding and replying to what the others were saying.

However, despite all that, Yuuri was somewhat… enjoying himself. He had fun learning about other people and their culture. All his life, all Yuuri knew were the confines of the little Yu-topia. What knowledge he had from other countries came mostly from Phichit and Celestino. He realized just exactly how little he knew about the world and how there were a whole lot of things still unknown to him.

Yuuri squeezed the gem of his necklace again. He had been doing it a lot now out of habit; the gem really did make him feel better, even though the effect was temporary.

Yuuri was going to make it through; he wanted to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was actually surprised that this one didn't even reach 2K words since i spent more time on this than any of the other chapters. Uugh... how I wish I could just jump straight into the main action without having to write the "how it happened" scenes


	8. Disable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri starts taking special classes to disable Eros and he meets a new possible friend too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, allow me to explain to you a little about the education system in the fictional school here in the fic.  
> In the Detroit Academy for Wielders, students are classified according to their types. They take Core Subjects and Specialized Subjects in their classes. Core Subjects are gen. subjects that all students, regardless of type, have to learn (e.g., Math, Science, etc.) Specialized Subjects, on the other hand, vary among types.  
> The students here have a Homeroom Class, or their main class of sort, where students of different types are mixed together to promote inter-disciplinary learning. (I got this idea from my Junior High School Wednesday schedule). Their classmates in the Homeroom Class will also be their classmates in the Core Subjects classes. Then, they will change classrooms to go their respective Specialized Subjects Classes.

Yuuri was tapping his fingers on his desk as he waited in the classroom for the teacher to arrive. He was the only student and this class was especially created for him alone. Celestino had made some arrangements for him to be taught separately by Ms. Mia Lopez, a Psychic teacher who specialized in the subject of _Release and Restrain._

To know when to use and when not to use one’s powers was important to all types of Wielders. However, this subject was only taught to Psychics because their powers were so interwoven with their minds and their everyday lives that it was easy for them to forget that they were even using magic.

Ketty, for example, one of Yuuri’s classmates in Homeroom, was a Mind Reader. She had confessed to Phichit and Yuuri’s group once that sometimes when she didn’t know the answer to a question in the test, she would automatically read the mind of Seung-gil, a classmate of hers in a different class. She had stopped doing it though ever since Seung-gil confronted her about it. It turned out this Seung-gil guy had good sense and could tell when someone was using magic on him.

 

* * *

 

 

The clock in the room read 2:28. _Only two minutes now_ , Yuuri thought. Yuuri stopped drumming his fingers and wiped the sweat off his hands on his jeans.

He was finally doing this. It took three weeks for Celestino to convince Ms. Lopez to take Yuuri on as her student. She had refused many times, saying, “If he had wanted to learn, he should have enlisted himself as a Dual Type instead of shunning his being a Psychic.”

During the enrollment process, the student or the guardian was to specify what type of Wielder the student was so that the school can put him or her into the necessary respective classes. But when Yuuri heard about this back in Hasetsu, he begged his parents to not mention that he was a Psychic. He didn’t want to have to take classes on how he could use Eros. All he wanted was to learn how to not use it.

 

* * *

 

 

The door creaked opened and a woman with black hair and light brown skin entered the room. Yuuri stood to greet her a “Good afternoon” and the woman replied with the same greeting. As she sat down by her table in the front, she asked Yuuri to also take a seat.

“So you’re Yuuri Katsuki?” she asked, though it sounded more like a statement than a question. She started taking out some books and papers from her shoulder bag and placing it on the table.

“Yes, miss,” Yuuri replied, almost too fast.

“I am Mia Lopez,” she said as she started writing down something on a piece of paper. “I assume you’ve heard of me since I’ve already heard a lot about you from Mr. Cialdini.”

“Yes, miss.”

After she finished writing on the paper, she set her pen aside and then lifted her head to look at Yuuri. “And Mr. Cialdini has also explained to me your whole situation,” she said, resting her chin on her hands, with her fingers interlaced.

Yuuri swallowed at that. He had already expected Celestino to tell her so it shouldn’t had come as a surprise to him, but the thought that someone else in campus knew about it made him curl his fingers on his lap. Even Leo and Guang-hong didn’t know the whole story.

“Yuuri,” said Ms. Lopez, dropping her hands to her table. “I can understand that this has been hard for you, but I want you to know that this is my first time encountering this kind of case where the Vessel-turned-Wielder refuses to acknowledge the magic he was hosting.”

Yuuri did not know what to reply to that, so he stayed silent and kept his head down.

“How our magic works, especially us Psychics, depend on how we want them to work,” she explained. “If this Eros had not been working well for you in the past, I could teach you how to use it to your advantage, you know. Mr. Cialdini had already given me an overview about the nature of this Eros.”

Yuuri tensed. It was not the first time he had been offered that option. Minako had also suggested that he learn how to use Eros. Yuuri could not understand why they were even suggesting that. Eros was dangerous and should not be used at all.

“Mr. Cialdini also told me about the instances that you subconsciously used Eros,” she continued. _Minako and Yuuko,_ Yuuri thought. “I can see how those events led you to fear your own power, but still I was hoping that you’ll give me a chance to change your view about it.”

_What? My own power? Change my view about Eros?_

Yuuri tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. “Uhmm, Sensei–I mean, Miss,” he started. “I don’t understand.”

Ms. Lopez shifted on her seat. “The reason why I first didn’t agree to teaching you is because I don’t think it’s right for you to keep suppressing Eros,” she said. “Our magic is a part of us. Deny it and you deny a part of yourself.”

Mari had said a similar thing to Yuuri once. Why are people always implying that Eros was a part of him? He never asked for Eros. It was imposed on him when he was still a baby and had no capability to make his own decisions.

“I don’t want to use it at all, Miss Lopez,” Yuuri finally spoke, lifting his head to look at his teacher. “I don’t like the idea of using people to my own advantage. It’s wrong.”

“Well yes, imposing your will on someone else is immoral,” she said. “But if you give me a chance to teach you, then we might find different ways that you can use Eros without resorting to controlling people.”

“Wh-what do you mean?” he asked.

“Yuuri, Psychics, just like the other kinds of Wielders, can use their magic in different ways,” she explained. “You’re an Elemental, right? And you can use Ice in ways that is not just chilling your orange juice.”

“Uhmm yes, but–”

“I, for example, am a kind of Clairvoyant. Before I learned how to properly use my magic, I can only take a peek of my future that was going to happen in five seconds or in a day. Now, I can take a glimpse of the future of others, not that I actually enjoy doing that though.”

Yuuri never really considered that Eros could be capable of doing something else other than projecting his own emotions on others and controlling them. But whatever Eros could do, Yuuri was sure he didn’t want to know.

“I’ve made up my mind, Miss,” he said. “I will never want to use Eros.”

 

* * *

 

 

Yuuri silently walked down the winding staircase. His first meeting with Ms. Lopez was over and she said that they will officially begin their lessons on Friday. Yuuri wondered what his teacher meant when she said that he hoped Yuuri wouldn’t regret it. Why would he ever even regret it?

Yuuri sighed in relief as he finally reached the third floor. He was meeting with Phichit, Leo, and Guang-hong in the library for group study. He stopped to check the floor map that was hung in a frame on the wall beside the staircase. Even though he’d been to the library many times before, he still feared that he might get lost again. The Academy was wide and Yuuri hadn’t circled it yet even though it had been three weeks since classes started.

Yuuri hovered his index finger over the map as he searched for the symbol of the library which was a book. He located it and then made a mental note that the library was at the end of the right corridor, beside the research laboratory.

“Yosh,” said Yuuri, raising his backpack a little higher so that he can carry it properly. “Time to socialize.”

Yuuri turned on his heels and began to saunter towards the right corridor when he bumped into someone.

“Aah!” Yuuri yelped as he staggered backwards.

The boy Yuuri had bumped into was carrying a cup of iced chocolate and he had spilled some of it unto his shirt. Yuuri grimaced when he saw the brown stain contrast on the white shirt.

“I am so sorry!” said Yuuri, taking out his handkerchief from his pocket. “I… I’ll wash this for you! I promise, I…”

Yuuri started wiping furiously on the chocolate stain only to be pushed away by the boy.

“Aah, don’t mind,” the boy said, with a hint of annoyance in his voice. When Yuuri looked up, he noticed then that he looked Asian, like maybe even Japanese, Yuuri hoped. He had black hair and thick eyebrows and he was around Yuuri’s height. Most of the people Yuuri had met were either American or European, with the exception of Guang-hong.

The boy began to walk away, so Yuuri called out to him “Um, ano… at least let me make up to you.”

“Ha?” said the boy as he turned around.

“Um, I can get you another drink?” Yuuri offered.

“ _Tch_ ,” he snapped. “Do I get any benefit out of being friendly with you?”

The boy then turned to his left towards where the bathroom was. Yuuri stood there in shock. He had just gotten into trouble with someone. _Oh my god._ Yuuri was always careful to not get into bad terms with anyone. Ever since the first day, he had been nervous that he might be isolated if ever he accidentally pissed someone off.

During the two weeks that he and Phichit lazed around in their dorm room, waiting for classes to start, they watched a lot of American movies to familiarize themselves with the culture. One movie in particular was about how a boy had his head plunged by his seniors into the toilet because he talked back to them. Yuuri had been frightened that such a thing might happen to him. Phichit, however, was laid-back about it and he kept telling Yuuri that it was just a movie and that people aren’t that mean in real life. 

“And besides,” Phichit had said. “it’s not like you can even piss anyone off.”

Even then, Yuuri had remained nervous.

With heavy steps, Yuuri started walking towards the library. He might as well keep his mind occupied through studying instead of worrying about getting bullied.

 

* * *

 

 

When he got to the library, he scanned the tables to find where Phichit and the others had seated. Then he saw Phichit waving his hand to let him know where they were. Yuuri smiled at that and made his way to the table. It was the first table on the fourth row. Yuuri figured Phichit had chosen that spot because it was near the bookshelf that contained fiction books.

“Hey guys,” Yuuri greeted as he sat beside Phichit and across him was Leo. Leo and Guang-hong also greeted him in return.

“So how did it go?” Phichit asked, putting _Horrid Henry_ on the table.

“Fine, I guess,” Yuuri answered. “Nothing much happened. Lessons start on Friday.”

“Good for you, Yuuri,” said Guang-hong, setting aside some book about how to be an actor. Yuuri had known from Leo that one of Guang-hong’s dream was to be a Hollywood star. “But does this mean you’ll be late in hanging out with us for TGIFs?”

TGIF or _Thank God It’s Friday_ was an event that Phichit made wherein every Friday, they get to hang out in one of their dorm rooms after classes. Both Leo and Guang-hong would stay over at Phichit’s and Yuuri’s room or vice versa.

“Yeah,” Yuuri replied. “My class will end at six, and considering the ten minutes that it would take for me to walk from the classroom to the residence hall, I’m going to be around forty minutes late.”

“We can always change the time,” suggested Leo, then he turned his attention to Phichit. “We can start at six instead of five-thirty. That way, we’ll only have to wait ten minutes for Yuuri.”

“Ah, no, that’s unnecessary. You can just start watching movies without me,” said Yuuri, waving his hands in front of him to emphasize his point. He didn’t want his friends to compromise because of his schedule.

“Nonsense, Yuuri!” said Phichit, slinging an arm around him. “There’s no way we’ll start without you. You’ll miss out on the fun!”

“But I don’t really want to–”

“It’s okay, Yuuri,” Guang-hong assured. “Ten minutes aren’t too long.”

“Yeah,” agreed Leo. “We won’t mind.”

Yuuri stopped protesting and smiled at them. “Thanks, guys.”

 

* * *

 

 

The four began their study session. Because there were of different types, they could only teach each other the Core Subjects since it was required that all students take those subjects, regardless of their type. But since Phichit and Yuuri were both Ice Elementals, the two of them mostly found themselves teaching each other on the Specialized Subjects, leaving Leo and Guang-hong to teach each other.

Ten minutes into their study session, Yuuri noticed Phichit repeatedly glancing at the entrance door of the library, as if he was waiting for someone to arrive. Phichit hadn’t mentioned anything about inviting anyone to their study group, but Yuuri figured he should just ask.

“Who are you waiting for?” Yuuri asked as he stopped writing on his notebook. At his question, Leo and Guang-hong stopped what they were doing to look at Phichit curiously.

“Remember that smart guy Ketty told us about?” said Phichit. “The Korean named Seung-gil?”

“You invited Seung-gil to study with us?” Yuuri asked incredulously. They weren’t even friends, much less acquaintances, with Seung-gil.

“Yep, I got some help from Ketty to convince him. Seung-gil agreed, although he wasn’t actually happy about it. He said I owed him one,” Phichit chuckled as if it was a normal thing to just ask Seung-gil.

“Why would you even ask him?” questioned Leo.

“Ketty said he’s really really good in Math,” said Phichit. “And since none of us are Math geniuses, I took the initiative to ask help from someone who is.”

“Okay,” said Guang-hong. “But you should have at least told us about him.”

“Sorry,” said Phichit. “I’m not sure if he’d even show up because–oh wait, he’s here! Seung-gil!”

Phichit stood from his chair and started waving his arms to show Seung-gil where they were seated. Yuuri followed where Phichit’s eyes were looking, and when he saw just who this Seung-gil was, his eyes went wide.

“Hey guys, this is Lee Seung-gil,” introduced Phichit, gesturing a hand towards Seung-gil when he had approached the table. “And today, he had agreed to be our savior.”

 _Crap._ It was the guy whom Yuuri had bumped into earlier, the guy whose shirt he had stained. Yuuri saw that Seung-gil had changed into a different shirt–a black one this time.

Yuuri hunched on his chair and ducked his head, hoping to shrink his presence so that Seung-gil wouldn’t notice him.

“Hello, Seung-gil. My name is Ji Guang-hong,” Yuuri heard Guang-hong say. “Thank you for agreeing to tutor us today.”

“Well, I’m not doing this without anything in return,” said Seung-gil.

“Yeah, yeah, I owe you one,” said Phichit, beckoning Seung-gil to take a seat beside Leo.

“And my name is Leo de la Iglesia,” said Leo after Seung-gil had sat beside him.

Although Yuuri couldn’t see it, he knew that Seung-gil was seated so close to him and it made him feel uneasy. Yuuri still hadn’t introduced himself and he hoped that Seung-gil would not even care to ask who he was.

But as if there was some kind of deity mocking Yuuri from above, Phichit placed a hand on Yuuri’s shoulder, jolting him in surprise and making him raise his head. Seung-gil was resting his cheek on his hand and slumping on his chair, but when he saw Yuuri, he sat upright.

“And this guy is Yuuri,” said Phichit and Yuuri could feel all the color drain from his face when he had eye contact with Seung-gil. Seung-gil was narrowing his eyes at him. “He’s no genius, but among us, he’s the one who has never had a failing grade in math before, just barely making the passing mark.”

Phichit laughed as he sat beside Yuuri. Seung-gil was still holding the eye contact with Yuuri.

“Oh, it’s you,” said Seung-gil.

“Ah, y-yes, it’s me, uhmm…” Yuuri stammered, ducking his head and twiddling with his fingers. “I’m really sorry for earlier.”

Phichit, Leo, and Guang-hong looked at the two of them curiously.

“Have you two met before?” asked Phichit, glancing at Seung-gil and then at Yuuri.

“He bumped into me in the hallway earlier, making me spill my drink all over my shirt,” answered Seung-gil, and the way he said it made sound made Yuuri want to curl in on himself even more. He was obviously still mad at him. “That’s why I got here late. I had to change into a different shirt.”

“I’m really, really sorry,” said Yuuri, bowing his head repeatedly. “I didn’t mean to. I wasn’t looking and I was–”

“Ah whatever, just forget it,” said Seung-gil with a dismissive wave of his hand. “It was a cheap shirt anyway.”

Seung-gil then opened his backpack to take out his math book, his pen, and some sheets of scratch paper.

“Well, uhmm,” started Guang-hong, glancing at the two of them. “shall we start with Math?”

“Yes, Math! I want to study about quadratic functions,” Phichit chimed in, trying to remedy the awkward situation Yuuri was in.

“Ah yes, quadratic functions,” said Leo. “We have a test about that on Friday.”

Yuuri remained silent, not sure of what to say or if he should say anything at all. He doubted Seung-gil would even want to teach him.

 

* * *

 

 

“Aah, I really screwed up today, didn’t I?” said Yuuri, flopping on his bed. “Seung-gil kept giving me evil looks throughout the whole session.”

“Well, I’m sure he’ll eventually forgive you,” said Phichit, sitting beside Yuuri on the bed. “He did tell you to forget about it. And despite what happened, he still explained to you the quadratic formula.”

“Yeah, but he was obviously still mad at me,” mumbled Yuuri. “What if he belongs to some kind of popular guys group? And what if they’re going to taunt me and follow me around because I pissed off one of their members?”

Seung-gil was both smart and good-looking. It wouldn’t be hard to believe if a bunch of guys would willingly group with him to pick on Yuuri.

“Hey, hey, Yuuri, calm down,” said Phichit, gesturing his hands in front of him. “You’re overthinking things. And besides, does Seung-gil really seem that kind of person to you? A bully?”

“Hmm…” Yuuri pondered. True, Seung-gil had been kind enough to teach him Math even though he was angry with him. “Not really…”

“See? I’m sure, in a few days, Seung-gil would forget about the shirt incident. And you two can try to be friends by then,” said Phichit.

“That is, if he’d even want to be friends with me,” said Yuuri.

Yuuri didn’t really mind if Seung-gil won’t want to be friends with him; he just didn’t want Seung-gil to be angry with him forever. Yuuri didn’t want to be on bad terms with anyone and he hoped that Seung-gil would indeed forgive him someday.

 

* * *

 

 

Friday came and it was time for Ms. Lopez’s class.

Room 405 was bare and silent. The only thing inside it were two tables and two chairs. There were stacks of boxes piled in the corners, since it used to be a storage room, but they don’t count since Yuuri had no use for whatever was inside them. The curtains of the room were of a bright yellow color, though its brightness had long faded due to time. The last bits of sunlight were seeping in through the window, illuminating the room with a warm reddish glow.

Compared to the regular classrooms which features run on magic contained by the Smiths (e.g. Mental Projectors and 4D Learning Devices), room 405 was like a run-down shack, having been turned into a makeshift classroom at the last minute. Nevertheless, Yuuri didn’t complain.

And as Ms. Lopez turned on the lights in the room and started her lecture, Yuuri found that there was no place he’d rather be but in that classroom. That class was the main reason why Yuuri was in DAW in the first place.

“Yuuri, I’m sure you already know that our Energy comes from our Core,” Ms. Lopez began, and without waiting for an answer from Yuuri, she continued. “Yes, that is true. But it is important to keep in mind that the Core is only _the main source._ There are centers in our body that hold and release specific kind of Energy. These are called the Energy Centers.”

Energy Centers. Minako had mentioned that term to Yuuri before, but she didn’t expound on it.

“If the Core is like the manufacturer, then these Energy Centers are like the wholesalers,” she explained. “They serve like shops where you can choose the kind of item you want to buy for use.”

Ms. Lopez continued to talk about how the Wielder’s body utilizes these Energy Centers in order to achieve equilibrium in the flow of Energy. If the passageway or exit to one Center was blocked, the Energy would be unable to flow freely, leaving it to clump in one Center and get stagnant. As a result, the Wielder could get ill.

“To lock Eros,” said Ms. Lopez. “We will have to lock the Energy Center that deals with it in order to prevent Eros from getting access to your Core and thus, disabling it.”

“But I thought it would be wrong to lock a Center?” Yuuri asked.

“Yes,” she confirmed. “but only if it was locked abruptly.”

Yuuri cocked his head at that.

“If we do it slowly, we’ll be able to redirect the flow of Energy away from the Center,” she explained. “That would deem the Center as useless and the body will permanently kill it. The Energy that once flowed through it can just flow directly to other Centers without having to pass through the Eros Center, resuming the normal flow of Energy in your body.”

Yuuri still did not understand. “Uhmm, would that make me ill?”

“For a few days, yes,” she answered. Yuuri bit his lower lip at that “You may experience a high fever or a flu while the process is taking place. Once it’s over, you could even be unconscious for a few days as your body settles to the new flow system.”

Yuuri’s hands were shaking now. What if something went wrong with the process?

“After all that,” said Ms. Lopez. “I assure you, Eros will be completely disabled. It’s still there, but you won’t be able to use it anymore.”

Hearing those words from Ms. Lopez made Yuuri’s eyes crinkle a little and a smile tug at his lips. _Soon,_ Yuuri thought. Though objectively they were still far away from disabling Eros, just knowing that there is already a solution ready for him made him feel relieved and happy.

 

* * *

 

 

Yuuri was now on his way to his and Phichit’s dorm room for TGIF. They were probably going to watch another sappy romantic chic flick since it was Phichit’s turn to pick a movie, and he always chose those kind of movies.

When Yuuri made a turn at the corridor, he was greeted by Seung-gil leaning at the wall.

“Hey,” said Seung-gil, approaching Yuuri.

“Seung-gil?” said Yuuri, his eyes going wide. “What are you doing here at this time?”

“I forgot something from the classroom so I came back to retrieve it,” replied Seung-gil with ice in his voice. “What about you? Why are you taking classes with _Ms. Lopez?”_

Crap, Seung-gil must’ve passed by Yuuri’s classroom and saw him there.

“Oh that?” said Yuuri, trying to sound casual. “I was just taking some supplementary lessons for the upcoming campus test. That’s all. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to–”

“Oh really?” said Seung-gil, blocking Yuuri’s path. He was crossing his arms in front of him and raising an eyebrow at Yuuri. “Ms. Lopez is from the Psychic Department, why does an Elemental like you have any business with her?”

Yuuri swallowed and clenched his grip on the strap of his backpack. Seung-gil had good sense, he remembered. Maybe he could tell that Yuuri was also a Psychic type.

“Hey, ever since that study session in the library, I’ve been sensing a rather strong aura coming from you,” said Seung-gil, narrowing his eyes on Yuuri. Yuuri felt his breath catch in his throat. “And it doesn’t feel like Ice at all… so what is it? And why are you hiding it?”

Yuuri did not answer. Instead, he tried to get past Seung-gil. But Seung-gil was quick and strong and he shoved Yuuri to the wall.

“Why are you trying to run, Yuuri?” asked Seung-gil. “You’re acting really suspicious, you know.”

Yuuri felt nervous that he might be found out, but then why was Seung-gil cornering him like this? It was not like Yuuri had any obligation to tell him anything.

“B-because,” said Yuuri, adjusting his eyeglasses to avoid eye contact with Seung-gil. “it’s none of your business.”

Yuuri pushed Seung-gil aside, shoving him with his shoulder, and walked away. It was slow at first, but then his pace quickened. And when he was sure Seung-gil was out of sight, he ran. He didn’t want anybody to know about Eros at all.

 

* * *

 

 

“Yo, Yuuri!” greeted Phichit when Yuuri entered their room. “You’re finally here. That was more than ten minutes, you know.”

“Sorry,” muttered Yuuri, dropping his backpack on his bed and sitting across Phichit on the floor. “Something came up.”

Leo and Guang-hong were beside Phichit on the floor, between their beds. For a moment, Yuuri wondered if the two of them had been suspicious of him too.

“Hey Yuuri, are you okay?” asked Leo, looking at Yuuri worriedly. “You’re panting and sweating a lot.”

“Did you run all the way here, Yuuri?” asked Guang-hong.

“Ah yeah,” chuckled Yuuri as he swiped the sweat running down his forehead with the back of his hand. “I didn’t want to keep you guys waiting too long.”

“Well, now that you’re here,” said Leo as he reached into his backpack. “it’s time I give you this!”

Leo waved a piece of yellow paper in front of Yuuri, Yuuri eyed it curiously and it looked like a ticket to some kind of event. “What’s that?” he asked.

“It’s a ticket to the Grand Prix, Yuuri!” exclaimed Phichit, taking the ticket from Leo and showing it to Yuuri. “Leo’s got four tickets and he’s taking us with him.”

“Huh? Grand Prix? What’s that?” asked Yuuri as he looked at the ticket that said _Detroit Grand Prix_ on one side.

Phichit, Leo, and Guang-hong stared at Yuuri with shock. _Is this something I was supposed to know?_

“Huh? You’ve never heard of the Grand Prix?” asked Guang-hong. “It’s like the grand event of the year here in Detroit. A lot of our classmates had been talking about it.”

Detroit Grand Prix. It did sound familiar, like he might’ve heard it in passing, but Yuuri never really was the one to care much about his surroundings.

“It’s a racing event, Yuuri,” explained Leo. “Wielders at least sixteen years old compete against one another in an obstacle race and they try to win by using their magic. It’s held on Belle Isle every June. My brother was supposed to go with his friends, but then the schedule of their exams was moved to the day of the competition so he gave me the tickets instead.”

“Isn’t this great, Yuuri?” chimed in Phichit. “We’d get to see a live Wielders’ competition! This will be so fun.”

“I guess…” said Yuuri. “but I’m not really familiar with this Grand Prix…”

“Oh! I’m sure you’ll enjoy it, Yuuri” said Guang-hong. “There’s a rising star from Russia who’d been winning other similar events since he was sixteen and it’s said that he’ll be joining the DGP too! I want to root for him, but I don’t really remember his name though… hm, Leo?”

“I don’t think I’ve heard about him yet, Guang,” said Leo. “There are lots of new competitors every year in the Grand Prix. It’s hard to keep track of who’s joining.”

“So when is this held?” Yuuri asked Leo.

“It’s held on June 2-4,” replied Leo. “But our tickets are only for the June 3 events, and that’s on a Saturday, about two weeks from now.”

“Okay,” said Yuuri. “as long I don’t get lost in the crowd, I suppose it will be fun.”

“Woohoo!” cheered Phichit. “We’re going to watch the Grand Prix! Grand Prix! Grand Prix!”

Leo and Guang-hong chanted with Phichit and Yuuri can’t help but laugh at the scene they’re making. Yuuri allowed himself to indulge in the happiness of the moment and forget about his encounter with Seung-gil from earlier. After all, he did swear that he was going to live a life that did not revolve around Eros.

So the four of them started watching some rom-com that Phichit picked and laughed the entire night.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the longest chapter I've written for this fic so far. I was having a really good time writing it at first, but when I heard about the terrorism attack on Marawi (a part of my country), I didn't feel like writing anymore. Somehow I manage to finish the chapter, but I admit that towards the end my writing got a little bad. I couldn't concentrate at all because I was caught between watching the news, praying for my affected countrymen, and typing some words in this chapter. Anyways, I ask you to please include Marawi (Philippines) in your prayers. May all the people there be safe.
> 
> \-------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
> *The concept about the Energy Centers is loosely based on the concept of Chis/Chakras
> 
> *The _Detroit Grand Prix_ is based on an actual racing competition in Detroit. In real life, it's a race between cars, but in this fic, it's sort of like an Olympic decathlon or something.


	9. From the Outside

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> To prepare you for the Detroit Grand Prix chapter, I've written this chapter featuring Phichit's, Seung-gil's, Yakov's, _and_ ... Viktor's POV. Yes, you read that right. Enjoy!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title is "From the Outside" because it's from outside Yuuri's POV... yeah i know it sucks but i couldn't think of anything else.

* * *

 

**Phichit’s POV**

_1 month ago…_

* * *

 

 

Phichit was observing Yuuri bouncing his leg while he sat at the edge of the bed, flipping through the guide that the school had given them. Every now and then, Yuuri would reach up to touch the gem hanging from his neck. And Phichit knew that whenever he did that, it meant he was nervous.

During the past week, the two of them had spent the entire time watching different American movies that Phichit bought and some owned by Celestino. They had watched all of those and now there was nothing to do to pass the time. With just a few days left before classes would start, Yuuri was getting more and more nervous.

Being the good friend that he was, Phichit coaxed Yuuri to go outside with him to tour around the campus. They had only went around it–well, most of it–once, and there were still so many parts they hadn’t seen yet. Phichit thought it would be nice for Yuuri to get some fresh air in order to ease his mind.

 

“Where are we going, Phichit-kun?” Yuuri asked as they descended the stairs of the dormitory.

“Hmm…” Phichit pondered after skipping a step. “I dunno… Wherever the wind takes us!”

“ _Phichit-kun…”_ Yuuri said, pausing in his step. “We could get lost.”

“Yuuri, it will be fine,” said Phichit, turning around to look at his friend. “And besides, you’re carrying that pamphlet with the school map on it. We can always find our way back.”

With that said, Phichit hoisted himself on the banister and slid all the way down to the next floor, leaving Yuuri to run after him.

 

“We’re lost, aren’t we?” Yuuri said after a while of going around the same building in circles.

“Umm, no we’re not!” countered Phichit as he led Yuuri towards the left path. They were in the grounds of… _a_ _building_ , but whatever building it was, Phichit had no idea. There were lots of different buildings inside the campus; the entire school was like a mini City, complete with its own community, hospital (just the infirmary), mall (a cafeteria that was a very wide food court), and even a hotel (one of the expensive dormitory buildings). The two of them haven’t passed all the other buildings yet, and Phichit was determined to do just so.

When Phichit reached the end of the path, he stopped. He eyed the statue of the school founder stationed just a few feet away from him.

“Phichit-kun, I’m pretty sure we’ve passed by that statue several times already,” said Yuuri. “Just admit it: We’re lost.”

“Well…” Phichit said, chuckling lightly, as he scratched the back of his head. “I might have taken a wrong turn back there, hehe…”

Yuuri sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “Okay that’s it,” he said. “We’re using the map.”

Yuuri reached into the front pocket of his jeans and pulled out the school pamphlet that had been folded neatly. He unfolded it and turned to the map section, studying it carefully. Phichit went behind Yuuri so that he can also see the map.

“We’re over here,” said Yuuri, pointing to a part of the map that had an illustration of a building that looked like an “X” but with a square center. “We’re at the Administrator’s building.”

“How’d you know that?” Phichit asked as he moved his head closer to Yuuri’s shoulder to get a better look. “It only says ‘ADMN.’”

“Which is probably short for ‘Administrator,’” Yuuri pointed out, shrugging.

“Oh,” said Phichit. “So how do we go back to the dormitory from here?” Phichit knew that Yuuri wasn’t that good in directions, but he trusted in him anyway because, although so used to travelling, Phichit never bothered learning how to read a map, thinking that he never needed to.

“Umm, this must be our dorm over here,” Yuuri starts, pointing at the upper right side of the map. “And since we’re over here,” pointing at the X-building again. “we’re, like, at the center of the entire campus. I think we’ll just have to start at the northeast exit of this building and maybe we can retrace our steps from there.”

“Northeast exit. Noted,” said Phichit, and then he grinned. “Whoever gets there first wins!”

Phichit dashed ahead, leaving Yuuri behind.

“Win? Win what?” Yuuri shouted at him, but he was already far away. “Hey Phichit-kun, wait up!”

Yuuri ran after Phichit as fast as he could.

 

Phichit was running so fast, not minding how far behind Yuuri was. The Administrator’s building was rather wide that by the time he could see the northeast exit and the cobblestone path stretching outwards it, Phichit was already gasping for air. He bent on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.

Phichit turned around, hoping he could see Yuuri but there was no sight of him yet. Phichit was almost afraid he had gotten lost but then he spotted him approaching.

“Yuuri!” Phichit called out, a smile breaking out on his face as he waved his arms in the air so that Yuuri could see him too.

Phichit dropped his arms and sat by the bench near the exit. Yuuri, finally catching up to him, took the weight off his feet by dropping beside him.

 “Phichit-kun! Why did you run off like that?” Yuuri yelled, and then tried to catch his breath.

“I win, Yuuri!” Phichit bragged.  “You were so slow that you lagged behind me.” Though Phichit was implying the race, at the back of his mind he also thought about how he had succeeded in letting Yuuri get out of his own head.

“Well, you had a headstart so it was an unfair match,” Yuuri argued, smiling, but then his face turned serious as his eyes looked past Phichit. “Anyways, we should really get back to the dorm. We’re not even allowed to be here.”

“What do you mean we’re not allowed to be here?” Phichit asked, looking at Yuuri curiously.

“Look,” Yuuri said, pointing past Phichit. Phichit turned around and saw a sign that said “OFF-LIMITS TO STUDENTS” written in bold, white, capital letters on a dark green board.

“Uh-oh, yeah you’re right. We really should get going.”

Phichit and Yuuri got up and started following the path from the northeast exit when somebody came up to them from behind.

“What were you kids doing here?” a woman’s voice said and they both turned around to see Mrs. Anderson, the school principal, and some other professional adults clad in a suit and tie. “You’re Celestino’s boys, aren’t you?”

They had met Mrs. Anderson when they first came to DAW; she had welcomed Celestino on their arrival.

“Uhh…” Yuuri was shaking beside him; Phichit could feel his jitters from where he was standing.

“We got lost,” Phichit quickly supplied as he slung an arm around Yuuri, hoping to calm him down. “We were on our way to the cafeteria, but we got lost.”

“Is that so?” Mrs. Anderson clarified with a raised eyebrow.

Behind her, an old man, wearing a black felt hat and a black coat, asked her in a gruff voice, “What is the problem here, Mrs. Anderson?”

Phichit could tell that the man was important because when Mrs. Anderson turned to address the older man and explain the situation, her tone of voice became soft, not the usual strict and firm one that she had just confronted Yuuri and Phichit with.

“Some of the foreign students, huh?” the man said and he looked at Yuuri and Phichit. Phichit noticed he had a thick accent, making him sound more like someone of authority.

“Yes, sir,” said Mrs. Anderson with an amiable smile. “I’ll tell these kids how to get to the cafeteria from here. Then, we can continue with our–”

“What are your names?” the man asked.

Yuuri looked at Phichit and Phichit at Yuuri. Were they the ones being asked?

“Boys, Mr. Feltsman here has just asked you a question,” said Mrs. Anderson, bringing Yuuri’s and Phichit’s attention back to her. “He is from the Education Department of the International Wielders Union and he is a much _honored guest_ of the school. Now, don’t be shy and answer him.”

The way Mrs. Anderson said _honored guest_ did nothing to make Phichit and Yuuri comfortable around the man. But Mrs. Anderson’s message was very clear: Do not embarrass the school.

“M-my name is Phichit Chulanont. I’m from Thailand,” Phichit answered first because Yuuri was too nervous to speak. And then he added, “And this is my friend Yuuri Katsuki. He’s from Japan.”

Phichit noticed the way Mr. Feltsman’s eyes went wide at the mention of Yuuri’s name (or was it because of the fact that he was from Japan? Maybe he wanted to visit Japan).

“Katsuki?” Mr. Feltsman asked _(definitely the name)._

Phichit turned to Yuuri and saw that he wasn’t listening, his head ducked down, so he bumped his shoulder.

“Uhm, _hai!”_ Yuuri squeaked, lifting his head up. “I mean, yes. Yes, I’m Katsuki.”

Mr. Feltsman narrowed his eyes on Yuuri and Phichit knew that it was making his friend uncomfortable. This was not what Phichit wanted at all when he planned to take Yuuri outside.

“It was very nice meeting you, Mr. Feltsman!” Phichit inserted to steer the man’s attention away from Yuuri. And then he turned to Mrs. Anderson and said, “We’re very sorry for trespassing here, ma’am. We’ll get back to our dormitory now.”

“Okay, make sure you don’t get lost,” she said.

“Yes, ma’am,” said Phichit, slinging his arm around Yuuri’s shoulder as they turned around. They walk in the opposite direction.

“Oh my god, Phichit,” Yuuri said silently when they were a few steps away. “I think we just got in trouble.”

“No, I think they just let us off,” Phichit assured, but then he turned his head to look back and he saw Mr. Feltsman whispering something to Mrs. Anderson. Phichit didn’t hear it, but somehow he was worried that it was about Yuuri.

Phichit tightened his grip around Yuuri, not noticing the startled noise that his friend made. When he saw Mr. Feltsman looking at them, Phichit averted his eyes and started talking to Yuuri instead.

 

* * *

 

**Seung-gil’s POV**

_Last Wednesday, three days ago …_  

* * *

 

 

 

Seung-gil was not sure how to explain it, but he could feel a strong aura coming from Yuuri. It was faint, but it was leaking out of Yuuri like smoke from a dying fire. His curiosity kept him looking at Yuuri and when their eyes met, he would search inside them for answers. But Yuuri would avert his eyes away, and it just left Seung-gil with unanswered questions.

At one point in their study session, Yuuri asked Seung-gil a question about the quadratic formula and it made him lean forward on the table to show Seung-gil his problem. Seung-gil used this opportunity to get a better grasp of the aura that Yuuri was emitting. Using a technique that he had learned since he was a kid, Seung-gil placed his a hand on a spot on the table that was close to Yuuri’s own hand. Seung-gil then transmitted a part of his Energy through the table and towards Yuuri. When Seung-gil felt the Energy reach Yuuri, he started searching for Yuuri’s Energy stream while all the time explaining to Yuuri the logic behind the quadratic formula.

And then he felt it.

There were two of them. One was cold and electric and it made Seung-gil shudder when he got in touch with it. _Ice,_ Seung-gil thought. Yuuri had mentioned that he was an Ice elemental. But he did not mention about being a Dual Type, so why was he lying about it?

But the other one was different.

The other one was like _fire_. Hot, vibrant, and _intense_ –a complete opposite to Ice.

Only half-second after contact, Seung-gil had to pull back because it was so _strong_ , and he couldn’t take it. He felt like he could burst just by getting into contact with it. Seung-gil moved his hand away and it was a good thing that Yuuri didn’t know what he was doing because he would have no idea how to explain “feeling someone else’s Energy stream” as something that was not invading someone’s privacy. Because it was, and it made Seung-gil bit the inside of his cheek, the guilt clawing at him.

 

_Yesterday, Friday night…_

 

Seung-gil was in his room, ready to make the essay assignment about the Nature of Magic in Dual Types, when he found that the notebook where he had written his draft was missing. He opened his bag and dropped all of the things inside it on his bed. He searched through his books, notebooks, and other knick-knacks he had only to be confronted with the reality that his notebook was gone, and it made him panic. He had spent a lot of time on that essay and he didn’t want to start from zero all over again.

Seung-gil went to his desk and rummaged through his drawers. Nothing.

But then he remembered that he had used that notebook earlier on Perception and Intuition class. He had probably left it on his desk in Mr. Hariss’s classroom.

Putting on his black jacket, Seung-gil left his room and made his way to the Main Building.

 

When Seung-gil got into the building, the lights in the classrooms were already out and the maintenance staff was starting to lock the rooms. He approached one of the staff members and explained his situation, asking to borrow the key of Room 400.

 

Just as he suspected, the notebook was in the drawer of his desk. Seung-gil sighed in relief when he retrieved it. He scanned the pages of the notebook and found the draft that he had written. Good thing he didn’t have to start writing all over again.

Seung-gil exited the room, making sure to lock the door. He started walking towards the other staircase, opposite the one he had just climbed, so that when he got to the ground floor he’ll be nearer the Maintenance Office. He still had to return the key.

And then he noticed a light coming from the corridor to his right. The light was coming from a classroom, and he could hear voices speaking too. He wondered if it was some sort of night class, but he knew his school didn’t have such programs.

Curious, he turned right and started walking towards where the light was coming from. He found himself outside of Room 405 and he could hear the familiar voice of his teacher Ms. Mia Lopez. She was talking about Energy Centers.

 _What is Ms. Lopez doing here?_ Seung-gil wondered. The door of the room was open and Seung-gil thought about taking a peek inside, but then he heard someone else speak. A boy’s voice. A student, most likely. He was asking a question, but his voice wasn’t loud enough for Seung-gil to hear. But when he listened closely, Seung-gil recognized it. _Yuuri Katsuki._

 _Why is Yuuri taking a class from Ms. Lopez?_ Now, Seung-gil was even more curious about Yuuri. Ms. Lopez was a Psychic who specialized in the subject of Release and… _Restrain._

_Restrain._

The faint leaking magic that Seung-gil had sensed earlier that week.

Like smoke from a dying fire…

Yuuri was suppressing that other magic. That other magic that Seung-gil sensed to be so strong it could burst. What was that magic? A magic like that, why was Yuuri suppressing it?

Seung-gil’s mind was racing with thoughts and questions and none of them had answers. And then he heard Ms. Lopez dismissing the class and the sound of a chair being pushed back. Yuuri was getting up. He was about to exit the room while Seung-gil remained frozen on where he was standing.

Seung-gil snapped himself back to reality. If he was seen standing just outside the room, they would assume that he had been eavesdropping–which he sort of was, but others didn’t have to know that. He walked towards the curve at the end of the corridor. If Yuuri was going back to the dormitory, he would have to pass there. Seung-gil would wait for him there.

 

“Seung-gil? What are you doing here at this time?” Yuuri asked when he saw him.

 _Shouldn’t I be asking you that?_ “I forgot something from the classroom so I came back to retrieve it,” Seung-gil replied. “What about you? Why are you taking classes with _Ms. Lopez?”_

“Oh that?” said Yuuri in a slightly high-pitched voice and averting his eyes. “I was just taking some supplementary lessons for the upcoming campus test. That’s all. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to–”

“Oh really?” Seung-gil cut him off, blocking Yuuri’s path when he tried to get past him. Yuuri was obviously making up excuses. “Ms. Lopez is from the Psychic Department, why does an Elemental like you have any business with her?”

When Yuuri did not reply, Seung-gil continued, “Hey, ever since that study session in the library, I’ve been sensing a rather strong aura coming from you. And it doesn’t feel like Ice at all… so what is it? And why are you hiding it?”

Yuuri tried to get past him again, and this time he shoved him to the wall, cornering him. Seung-gil didn’t like the way Yuuri was avoiding to answer the question.

“Why are you trying to run, Yuuri?” asked Seung-gil. “You’re acting really suspicious, you know.”

Everything next happened in a flash.

Yuuri was emitting that aura again, but this time it wasn’t just leakage. Yuuri was releasing some of his Energy and Seung-gil found himself hearing Yuuri’s thoughts. _I had no obligation to tell you anything,_ Yuuri was thinking. Seung-gil started to back away slowly, realizing how his actions had been brash and that he had indeed been trying to invade Yuuri’s privacy. Seung-gil swallowed, feeling ashamed for what he had done.

“B-because,” Yuuri said. “it’s none of your business.”

Seung-gil was pushed away by Yuuri and Yuuri shoved his shoulder when he passed. Yuuri walked away, the aura that Seung-gil felt was slowly fading into something like seeping smoke again.

Seung-gil looked at Yuuri’s back as he walked away. _What was that?_ That Energy, that magic, it was incredibly powerful. And that was even an understatement; Seung-gil couldn’t find the right word to describe it.

Seung-gil knew he shouldn’t be interfering with Yuuri’s life, but when he had that encounter with Yuuri’s magic, he just couldn’t leave him be. What he knew was that, for some reason, Yuuri was suppressing it. Why was he suppressing it? Was it too strong for him? If that was the only case, then why didn’t he mention about being a Dual Type? Seung-gil was pretty sure Phichit told him that they were only both Ice Elementals.

A power like that shouldn’t go to waste. Seung-gil decided that he was going to learn everything about Yuuri Katsuki and find out the truth about his other magic.

 

* * *

 

_Meanwhile, in the International Wielders Union Headquarters, Moscow, Russia (present timeline)…_

**Yakov’s POV**

* * *

 

 

Yakov was sitting in his office in the building of the Education Department. He had a lot of work to do on his desk, but he couldn’t find himself to focus on starting it. Viktor was flying to Detroit in a week. _Detroit_. Yuuri Katsuki was there.

Yakov and his grandson’s family hadn’t had contact with the Katsukis ever since that incident where Eros acknowledged Yuuri as his new Wielder. The Katsukis resented them for it, saying that that wasn’t part of the deal. Yakov’s daughter and Viktor’s mother, Anna, however, argued that it was the Katsukis who cheated on them, that they stole Eros.

After all these years, Yakov knew that there was still tension between the Nikiforovs and the Katsukis. Toshiya had banned them from ever going near his son and Alexei, Yakov’s son-in-law, said they wouldn’t want to see them ever again anyway.

Yakov understood why Anna and Alexei begrudged the Katsukis. Eros was Viktor’s magic. It was a perfect, although complete opposite, match to Agape. Eros and Agape balanced each other. Viktor enjoyed using Eros as much as he used Agape.

However, Eros, was more… wild. It was always in constant pursuit of Agape. It wanted to reach Agape, to fuse with it, but a Fusion was impossible for Viktor’s body at that time. The transfer had to be made.

Yakov didn’t know what could happen if Agape was in close proximity with Eros. _Would it recognize Viktor as its original Wielder? Would it forcefully fuse with Agape again? What will happen to Yuuri?_

Even though it was unlikely that a high school student could afford a ticket to watch the Grand Prix, Yakov could never say for sure. Yuuri might be there in the stands.

Yakov sighed. He was too old to think of such stressful things. He reached for his phone and decided to call Viktor instead. Hearing his grandson’s voice may ease his worries.

 

* * *

 

_In St. Petersburg, Russia (present timeline)…_

**Viktor’s POV**

* * *

 

 

“Viktor, you better start packing everything you need for the competition!” Viktor’s Deda reminded over the phone.

“Deda, you don’t have to tell me that. I’m already eighteen,” Viktor replied. “And besides, my flight isn’t until next week.”

“I’m just making sure you won’t forget anything _again_ ,” his Deda said. “I’m a busy old man, Viktor. I won’t have time to fly all the way to Detroit just because you forgot your sport shoes.”

“I won’t, Deda,” Viktor said with a sigh. “I promise.”

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the line before his Deda spoke again, “Be careful out there, Viktor.”

Viktor blinked. That sounded oddly soft… for his Deda.

“I will, Deda,” he replied anyway.

After several more reminders, reprimands, and goodnights from his Deda, Viktor hung up the phone. Deda was always nagging him, and Viktor found it amusing when his Deda would claim that he was losing more hair because of him.

It was still seven o’clock, too early to sleep, so Viktor found himself going to his desk by the window of his room. He opened one of the desk drawers and reached inside to pull out a faded blue envelope. He closed his desk and then walked back to lie on his bed.

Viktor opened the envelope and inside was an old letter given to him when he was fourteen. It was a ritual of his to read that letter every night.

_Dear Victoria,_

_I’m very sorry but I can’t go out to meet you. My parents got mad at me for going out without their permission, and I’m also sick right now. I have a fever._

_I really wanted to ice skate with you again. Maybe we can go some other time when I’m better?_

_Oh, and thank you for the ice cream. I think vanilla is now my favorite flavor._

_I also want to eat ice cream with you again. You can find me at Yu-topia hot springs. My family owns the business and that’s where we live. When you’re here, I’d also like to treat you to Katsudon in exchange for the ice cream. It’s a very yummy dish, and it’s my favorite!_

_I really enjoyed hanging out with you, Victoria. I don’t have much friends, only two. And I’d really like to be friends with you. I hope to see you again!_

_-Yuuri_

 

Viktor smiled after reading it; he always would. Viktor was never able to see Yuuri again. He wanted to see him one more time so that he can at least tell him about his true identity. However, his parents had banned him from seeing Yuuri because they claimed that he stole Eros from him. Viktor never believed them. The Yuuri he knew was soft, shy, kind, and adorable. Yuuri would never steal.

Viktor folded the letter and inserted it back into its envelope. He was flying to America next week in order to compete in the Detroit Grand Prix. Viktor wanted to win, not just for himself, but also for Yuuri. He wanted to be able to save enough money so that he can go Japan and find Yuuri. He also wanted to buy him lots of ice cream and presents. Yuuri was the first person who ever wanted to be friends with him and he really wanted to meet him again

His parents would never give him the money to fly to Japan and to buy the presents, so he had to earn it himself. But at the moment, most of the money he earned from competitions would go to paying his tuition fee, coaching fees, travel expenses, and housing and electric bills.

 _One day,_ Viktor thought. One day he will see Yuuri again, and when that day comes, he will be his friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whew... did I just update three times this week? Whoaah...


	10. Elusiveness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yuuri is chosen to represent his batch for an important event.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been weeks since I last updated (or has it been a month already?) I'm not gonna give excuses, but I would like to apologize for not updating regularly. I'm very sorry.

Yuuri had been more aware of Seung-gil ever since his encounter with him last week. Even if he wanted to ignore him and pretend that he was not there, he can still feel his eyes staring intently at him. Yuuri knew that Seung-gi suspected something, but he was not going to confirm anything as Phichit had suggested.

“No matter how suspicious he gets, as long as you admit nothing, he won’t find out the truth,” Phichit had told Yuuri last Saturday.

Yuuri knew Phichit was right, but he still can’t help but feel nervous. He didn't know what Seung-gil's magic was, only that he was a Psychic type. What if he was also a mind reader like Ketty?

He would keep looking around his surroundings, keeping an eye out for Seung-gil, and when he’d see him, he would walk in the direction opposite him. Although Seung-gil was from a different department and that his break times were different from Yuuri’s, Yuuri was not going to take any chances. It was going to be almost a month that Yuuri had been living peacefully by blending with others and just ignoring Eros and he was determined to keep it that way.

 

* * *

 

It was lunch break and Yuuri and Phichit were on their way to Celestino’s office when they saw Leo and Guang-hong.

“Hi, Yuuri! Hi, Phichit!” Guang-hong greeted as he ran towards them, with Leo closely behind him.

“Hey guys,” Phichit replied. Yuuri said hello to both Leo and Guang-hong.

“Where are you two heading?” Leo asked as he adjusted the bag at his back. “The cafeteria’s that way.” He then pointed a finger in the direction where Phichit and Yuuri came from.

“We’re on our way to Coach–I mean, Mr. Cialdini’s office,” Yuuri replied. He was still not used to addressing his long-time coach with “mister.”

“Why? Did Phichit misbehave in his class again?” Guang-hong teased, and at that Yuuri and Leo laughed. During Celestino’s classes, Phichit had the tendency to act too familiar with him, like still calling him “Ciao-ciao,” and Celestino had reminded Phichit many times that he was already a school teacher and thus, he should start addressing him like one.

“What! Of course not!” Phichit defended, pouting as he crossed his arms in front of him. “Ciao-ciao said he had something important to tell Yuuri, so I’m just accompanying my best friend.”

“Yuuri?” Leo asked, turning to look at Yuuri, after he had finally stopped laughing.

“Ah, yeah,” said Yuuri. “He didn’t say what it is about though, just that I should stop by his office before getting lunch.”

“Is that so? Okay then, Leo and I will just head first to the cafeteria, so that we can save a table for us,” said Guang-hong.

“Great,” agreed Phichit. “We’ll just catch up with you guys later.”

“We might take a while, so just start eating without us,” said Yuuri.

“Well, we’ll see you later then,” said Leo as he started walking past Yuuri and Phichit. Guang-hong was smiling and waving at them.

“See you later,” said Yuuri.

 

* * *

 

 

“Come in!” Celestino’s voice came from the other side of the door a few seconds after Phichit knocked.

Phichit opened the door for Yuuri and he followed him inside right after.

“Umm, good noon, Co-I mean, Mister… Mister Cialdini,” said Yuuri as he hovered awkwardly by the entrance, not knowing where to sit in the office since the chairs meant for guests in front of Celestino’s table had stacks of papers and books on top.

“Aah Yuuri, you’re here,” Celestino acknowledged as he looked up from where he had been busy arranging some files on his desk. “With Phichit too.”

“Yo,” Phichit greeted, raising a hand.

“Come, take a seat,” Celestino offered while he directed his focus on his desk again.

“Umm,” Yuuri started as his eyes wandered over the heaps of papers and books where the chairs were buried underneath.

“Where are we even supposed to sit?” Phichit asked as he stepped forwards and scanned his eyes over the entire office

“Ahh just move some of those documents on the floor,” Celestino answered when he realized his office had no vacant chairs.

Phichit started carrying some documents and Yuuri approached to help him. After they managed to clear two chairs, they sat waiting for their teacher to address them.

“Okay, that’s set,” Celestino muttered to himself when he had cleared some space on his desk by shoving his things to one side of the table. He then adjusted himself on his seat and turned to look at Yuuri.

“Yuuri, do you have any idea why I called you here?” Celestino asked.

“N-no, sir,” Yuuri answered. Had he done something wrong? Maybe his teacher found out that he let Phichit copy from his assignment that one time. Yuuri swallowed as he waited for Celestino to continue.

“Actually, Mr. Brooks was supposed to tell you about it this afternoon,” his teacher started. “but knowing my student of seven years, I thought I’d tell you in advance because you might have difficulty saying ‘no’ if someone intimidating and less familiar approached you with the topic. And I wanted you to have to chance to refuse it if you didn’t want to do it.”

_Huh?_

“Whoah, what’s this about?” Phichit asked.

“You see Phichit, Yuuri here has been chosen by the department to represent his batch in the Inter-school Meet that’s going to be held this July,” Celestino explained.

“T-the Inter-schoo–” Yuuri’s face paled as he struggled to get the words out but failed anyway when Phichit cut him off with a “WHAT?!”

“Yuuri is joining the Inter-school Meet? Like, _the_ Inter-school Meet?” Phichit quickly followed. “That thing where all schools in the state clash against each other in a gruelling battle for honor, excellence, and victory?!”

Hearing Phichit declare such things about the Meet only made Yuuri’s heart beat faster.

“You just said the same thing twice, but yes.” Celestino confirmed, ignoring Phichit’s enthusiasm as he directed his attention back to Yuuri. “It’s not as dramatic as Phichit makes it sound, Yuuri. You actually have to start with the district competitions, then the provincials, before advancing to the state-wide competitions.”

“Uh Coach, I mean, Mr. Cialdini, w-why me?” Yuuri managed to ask and hold eye contact with Celestino. He wanted to know why, of all the students, he was chosen to join an important event. Yuuri had heard from some of his classmates who lived in the state that the reason they transferred to DAW was because they wanted to get into the school’s varsity team, which was renowned for consistently placing in the higher ranks in local sports competitions for the past years.

“Well, why not you?” Celestino replied, raising an eyebrow at Yuuri.

_Because I’m not that good. Because I get nervous easily. Because I freak out in front of lots of people. Because..._

And also…

_What if I accidentally Eros? And then everyone will know… Everyone will know and nothing will ever be the same again…_

“Yuuri, this is great!” Phichit inserted, cutting off Yuuri's thoughts. “It’s going to be a lot of fun. There are lot of different events: duels, races, team combat–wait, speaking of which, what event is Yuuri joining?”

“Yuuri was recommended for the freshmen Ice Duel," Celestino answered.

"T-the I-ice Duel?" Yuuri's jaw went slack. This was impossible. How could anyone see that Yuuri was good enough to be on a one-on-one fight with someone? He was going to mess this up so badly. He shouldn't join this event. He should just back away now while he can and...

"Yuuri?" Celestino was looking at him with concern in his eyes. Yuuri swallowed, thinking of what to say but found none.

"I know you're not the type to put yourself out there, but I want you to know that you really are our best choice for this," Celestino said. Yuuri couldn't look at him when he knew he looked so unsure and nervous, so he just kept his head down and looked at his fingers that he curled on his lap.

"Trust me, Yuuri," Celestino continued. "I've known you for years and I know you have the technique and skill to win. Not that I'm pressuring you to win, it's your first time after all, but I'm asking you to please give yourself time to think about this before you refuse it. Give yourself a chance, Yuuri."

"B-but, Coach, I don't know. I've never done something like that before," Yuuri said, still keeping his head down.

"I know, you're still in your freshman year after all. This will be a great learning experience for you. Plus, you also get points for extra-curricular activities."

"Come on, Yuuri. This is a great opportunity," Phichit chimed in and Yuuri turned to look at him. He saw the determination and excitement in his friend's eyes and he wished he had those for himself right now. Phichit should have been the one chosen.

"I'll think about it," Yuuri said after a while.

 

* * *

 

 

On the way to the cafeteria, Phichit kept telling Yuuri about replays of past events that he saw. He said the duels were the most anticipated events in the Meet because that’s where you can see who the best really are. People from the audience would make best on who wins, and since the DAW has been constantly winning in the event for the past years, it’s not unlikely that people would bet for Yuuri.

Yuuri tried to take in all that new information while he also tried to even out his breathing as they walked. Phichit seemed to notice Yuuri's discomfort, so he stopped in his tracks and turned to look at Yuuri softly.

Phichit placed a hand on Yuuri's shoulder and squeezed it gently. "If you do join, I will be cheering the loudest for you," said Phichit. "And if not, well, you'll have to help me cheer for whoever gets chosen."

Yuuri relaxed a bit under Phichit's comforting touch. He was still nervous, but he managed to smile at Phichit and mutter a thank you to him.

They continued walking and when they were outside the cafeteria doors, Phichit said in almost a whisper, "You know, I've always wanted to join the Meet."

Yuuri turned his head to look at Phichit. Phichit met his eyes and Yuuri could see something in them that he's quite not sure what. It looked like concern... or maybe even sadness. But it quickly disappeared the moment Phichit put on his bright smile.

"But I guess I have to keep training harder if I ever want to be chosen," Phichit said in a light chuckle. He then pushed open the cafeteria doors and stepped inside.

Yuuri looked at Phichit's back before the door closed behind him. _Phichit-kun..._ Yuuri was right. Phichit should have been the one chosen. Yuuri tightly grasped the strap of his backpack. With a deep breath, he entered through the doors to follow Phichit.

 

* * *

 

 

Yuuri saw the table where Phichit and his other friends were, so he made his way towards them. As he got closer, he noticed Ketty was eating lunch with them.

"Hi Yuuri," Ketty greeted as Yuuri was about to sit beside Phichit, who was across her. But then Phichit stood and maneuvered Yuuri to the opposite side of the table and asked him to sit beside Ketty.

"Why?" Yuuri asked, looking at Phichit and wondering why he was grinning. Yuuri didn't notice that Ketty was blushing beside him.

"I want to let my bag sit beside me," Phichit quickly reasoned out. "I don't want it to get dirty by putting it on the floor." And as if to prove the truth behind his words, Phichit scooped his bag from the floor and put it beside him on the seat.

Yuuri raised an eyebrow at Phichit, but let him go and decided not to press anymore about it. Phichit was clearly lying. Even with Phichit's bag seated, there was still plenty of space for Yuuri to sit beside him.

"Well, let's go get some lunch," said Yuuri after he placed his own bag to the floor, under the table.

"Aah sorry Ketty," said Yuuri when he had accidentally brushed his shoe against Ketty's lower leg while he was getting out of his seat.

"I-it's okay," said Ketty, not really looking at Yuuri.

When Yuuri had swung his feet out from under the the table, he stood and turned around. "Hey, Phichit-kun, let's­--" he stopped when he saw Phichit, Leo, and also Guang-hong trying to hold back smiles. _Were they about to prank him?_ Yuuri thought.

"Phichit, come on, let's get to the line so we can grab some lunch," Yuuri called again.

"Okay, I'm right behind you!" Phichit said, too excitedly. He must be that hungry.

 

* * *

 

 

The five of them fall into an easy discourse of small talk while Yuuri and Phichit continue eating their lunch. Leo, Guang-hong, and Ketty had finished ahead of them.

Phichit was telling their friends about Yuuri being chosen for the Duel and all of them had replied with how amazed and proud they were for Yuuri. Ketty, especially, seemed to be really generous in showering Yuuri with praises. Yuuri ducked his head when they complimented him and told them that he was still thinking about whether he'd accept the offer or not.

Minutes later, the jovial mood that Yuuri had found himself enjoying with his friends faded slowly when Guang-hong spoke up.

"Hey, isn't that Seung-gil?" Guang-hong said, pointing behind Yuuri.

Yuuri's eyes followed the direction of Guang-hong's finger and when he turned around he saw that, indeed, it was Seung-gil.

Yuuri gulped. Seung-gil was scanning the room for a table; when his eyes happen to be looking in their direction, Yuuri averted his eyes and continued eating his lunch to keep himself distracted.

"All the tables are taken, maybe we should invite Seung-gil to ours," Guang-hong suggested and at that Yuuri almost choked on his food. He quickly grabbed for his bottle of water from his backpack and drank from it until it was half-empty.

"Hey, Yuuri, are you okay?" Ketty asked, looking concerned.

"I'm fine," Yuuri answered as he slumped more on his chair, trying to shrink himself as much as he can so that Seung-gil won't notice him. "But no, we shouldn't invite him," he added right away without thinking.

"What? Why not?" Leo asked, and at his question Yuuri realized what he had just said.

"Aah, I mean­--no, because, umm..." Yuuri stammered, thinking of a good excuse, when Phichit inserted and save him from the trouble of doing so.

"Because if we do, he'll remember to make me buy that expensive t-shirt he wanted as payment for tutoring us," said Phichit. He was the only one who knew why Yuuri was avoiding Seung-gil so he had to come to back Yuuri up.

"Is that all? Sheesh... it will be fine. Don't worry about it," said Leo. "Besides, he sounded like he was joking when he said he wanted that shirt."

"B-but..." Yuuri started, but then Guang-hong and Leo were both looking at him suspiciously so he shut himself up before he could say anything else.

"Well, I don't think Seung-gil would want to eat with us even if we do invite him," said Ketty. "I mean, he's the kind of person who prefers to be alone. He always seems like he doesn't enjoy hanging out with people."

Yuuri looked at her, his eyes shining. _Thank you, Ketty!_ Ketty didn't know why Yuuri was elusive towards Seung-gil, but he was grateful all the same for her interference.

"Yeah, yeah, that too," Phichit readily agreed.

"I don't think that's true," said Guang-hong. "He may be an introvert, but I don't think anyone wants to be alone all the time. Maybe... he's just a little shy." Guang-hong's gaze then trailed back to Seung-gil, who was now getting in the line.

"I agree with Guang-hong," said Leo.

Yuuri chewed down on his lower lip as Guang-hong stood and then made his way to Seung-gil.

Yuuri could still get out of here. He can excuse himself to the bathroom... or maybe go back to the dormitory. He can say that he had something he needed to do.

But what if Leo or Guang-hong think he was acting weird? Will they start suspecting him too, like Seung-gil did? What if...

"Thank you for inviting me."

Yuuri was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the familiar cold voice. He risked a glance at the person who had just arrived at their table, and sure enough it was Seung-gil. He sat beside Phichit _and_ across Yuuri.

Yuuri can't run away now.

But wait... why did he have to run away? It wasn't like he was doing anything wrong. _Just don't admit anything,_ Phichit had told him. Right, no matter what Seung-gil would think, he'd get nowhere if Yuuri remained silent.

Yuuri continued eating his lunch, pretending that Seung-gil wasn't there. Phihcit initiated conversation again to fill in the uncomfortable silence. Leo and Guang-hong were happy to comply and the three of them started talking about a lot of things, mostly about school. Seung-gil was silent most of the time, while Yuuri kept feeling Ketty's eyes on him.

 

At one point, after Phichit, Yuuri and Seung-gil were finished eating, the topic returned to Yuuri being chosen for the Meet.

"Oh, so Yuuri's that good of an Ice Wielder?" Seung-gil asked Phichit.

"Uhmm, no, not really..." Yuuri started, but Phichit cut him off.

"He's not just 'good,' he's probably the best in our batch!" Phichit declared.

" _Phichit-kun..."_ said Yuuri.

"What? I'm only stating the facts," said Phichit, grinning. And then he added, "Yuuri is so good with Ice that I can't really imagine him being able to wield _anything else_. I bet Yuuri's bones are made of ice."

Yuuri noticed the implication in Phichit's tone and saw Seung-gils eyes narrow at his friend for a brief moment. Then Seung-gil turned his attention to Yuuri. Yuuri stiffened when he looked at him.

"I'd like to see you use Ice sometime, Yuuri," said Seung-gil but the way he said it didn't really sounded like he was interested in Ice, more like, in something else.

"Uhmm, okay," was all Yuuri could reply.

"And speaking of 'events,'" Leo inserted. "Don't forget guys, the Detroit Grand Prix is this Saturday!"

"Oh right," said Ketty. "I almost forgot."

"Oh Ketty, you're also going?" Phichit asked.

"Yep! I'm going with some friends from my class," she said and then looked at Yuuri with a smile. "I guess I'll see you guys around there."

Yuuri smiled back, "Yeah."

"You guys got tickets to the Grand Prix?" Seung-gil asked coolly.

“Yes, Leo got them for us,” affirmed Guang-hong excitedly. “I can’t wait to see the games!”

“Oh, is that so?” said Seung-gil and then glanced at Leo, who had been looking intently at him.

“Hey Seung-gil, why don’t you come with us?” Leo asked suddenly. _No, no, no, no…_ Yuuri started to internally panic.

“Ha?” asked Seung-gil.

“Hey Leo, I didn’t know you still had an extra ticket,” said Phichit, leaning half his body on the table so that he can get closer to Leo who was sitting diagonally across Seung-gil. And then Phichit suggested, “Didn’t you say someone stole one of the tickets when you forgot your bag in the classroom?”

Phichit looked at Leo pleadingly, hoping he’d get the hint, but apparently Leo turned out to be a dense idiot.

“No, it was my notebook that got stolen, not the tickets,” said Leo, and Yuuri’s face fell. Addressing Seung-gil, Leo continued, “My brother was the one who bought the tickets. He was supposed to watch the games with his friends, but they can’t make it because of their exams. There are five tickets, but since there are only four of us, I thought I’d give you the extra one. What do you say?”

 _Please say no, please say no, please say no…_ Yuuri chanted the words in his mind like a mantra as he curled his fingers on his lap.

But Seung-gil replied, “Thanks, I’d love to see the games too.”

Everything else became a blur after that. Yuuri could hear Phichit trying to casually talk Seung-gil out of it, but he’s interrupted with Leo, Guang-hong, and Ketty talking enthusiastically about the Grand Prix.

Yuuri really wanted to watch the Grand Prix. He’d been looking forward to it ever since Leo told him about it. But if Seung-gil was going to be there, how can he bring himself to enjoy it without worrying about his secret being found out?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, I have been having a hard time doing fic writing. School has already started over here too, and aside that I've been busy managing my new blog in Tumblr. I really like this story, but I'm not sure if I should still continue it. But if anyone is still interested, then I might not give this up. Please tell me what you honestly think. Thank you.


	11. Grand Prix

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Detroit Grand Prix begins!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it. The chapter you've all been waiting for. The Detroit Grand Prix chapter! And this is only part 1... I haven't outlined how many chapters the Detroit Grand Prix will take, but I can tell you that the DGP chapters are where all the drama begins. (Finally, some drama!)
> 
> You guys had stuck with me through all those word-building chapters and even waited so long for me to update; I guess it's only right that I thank you with a chapter that has 6K+ words, which is twice longer than my usual word count!
> 
> And here are some actual notes that you need to keep in mind before reading:  
> 1\. The DGP is held on Belle Isle, an island seperated from mainland Michigan. It's located very close to the border between United States and Canada.
> 
> 2\. The Elementals' games here are patterned after an Olympic pentathlon. However, I included a volleyball game, which is not in the original pentathlon, because I just really need to write a volleyball match. I was really crazy about Haikyuu before I watched Yuri on Ice, so you might find a few references to Haikyuu there. Comment below if you find Kageyama XD
> 
> 3\. I haven't thought much about what the Psychics' games should be, but I know a little chess, and chess is a mind game, so I just threw in some chess there.

The day of the Grand Prix was also the first day Yuuri got out of the campus. Weeks back, Phichit had said he wanted to go sightseeing, but Yuuri had always been busy. Aside from his regular classes, he also had his evening classes with Miss Lopez and that was really taking much from his time and energy.

However as Leo pointed out different sights and landmarks in the city, Yuuri wished he had taken up Phichit on his offer before. Detroit was beautiful. He knew that when he first set foot on the city, but knowing more about what it had to offer through Leo’s words only made it more so. Leo had been in the city longer than any of them so he was able to explain a little about the places.

On their way to Belle Isle where the Grand Prix was going to be held, they passed by many tall buildings, usually made of concrete and bricks. Even though Yuuri had been in Detroit for more than a month now, he was still not used to not seeing paper walls at all.

There were many concrete houses with blue brick roofs and with one or two trees dotted on every front yard. Yuuri thought they looked pretty, but then they passed by a mansion that looked like a little castle from the storybooks he read as a kid. According to Leo, the place was actually a fancy restaurant and one of Detroit’s iconic landmarks.

Right across that restaurant is the Museum of Contemporary Art. Leo said it had a lot beautiful, although a little odd, artworks of different media. Yuuri’s eyes went wide when he saw the exquisite mural that decorated the facade of the museum. It was a pattern created out of geometric shapes with mostly pink, yellow, violet, and blue colors.

Celestino, who was accompanying them to the DGP, voiced out that he would definitely visit that museum one day. Celestino had also bought a ticket for the games and originally planned to go along with other members of the faculty, but when he heard Phichit and Yuuri were going, he just can’t let them be on their own. He said that underage students shouldn’t be left wandering around the city without any adult supervision.

 

Although Yuuri had been enjoying the view from the window seat, he could not banish the feeling of Seung-gil’s eyes on him. Seung-gil was standing in the aisle, near Leo’s and Guang-hong’s seats, and Yuuri had noticed him glancing in his direction several times throughout the bus ride.

More often than he would like, Yuuri had reached for the amulet hanging by his neck to calm himself down. He had been avoiding using the amulet ever since some of his classmates had recognized it for what it was. He didn’t want people to know about how anxious he usually got, so he would hide the amulet under his shirt and hoped that no one would see it.

“You okay?” Phichit, who was sitting beside Yuuri, asked in a whisper.

“I’m fine,” Yuuri replied after dropping his hold of the amulet and then wiping the sweat from his hands on his jeans.

Phichit then leaned forward to rest his right elbow on the seat in front of him, making half his body block Seung-gil’s line of sight towards Yuuri.

“Thanks,” said Yuuri.

“No problem,” Phichit replied, giving Yuuri a comforting smile.

Thirty minutes into the ride, Yuuri started dozing off on his seat while Phichit’s head rested on his shoulder. The consequence of staying up late the night before and waking up earlier than usual that morning was finally taking effect on them.

Yesterday was Friday and, per tradition, they spent TGIF at Guang-hong’s and Leo’s room. Seung-gil was invited by the two, to Yuuri’s dismay. However, instead of watching movies they spent the night passing around snacks and talking about how excited they were to see the games.

It was almost an hour later when their bus finally stopped, but they had not arrived at their destination yet. They had to ride another bus to get to Belle Isle. The island was not connected to mainland Michigan, and to get there they had to pass the Detroit River through the MacArthur Bridge.

“Okay kids, wake up!” instructed Celestino as he pulled the bell cord found above the window by his seat in order to signal the driver to stop. Yuuri stirred, waking Phichit beside him.

“Have we arrived?” Phichit mumbled with a yawn as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

“No, but we have to change buses,” said Yuuri as he stood and stretched his arms in front of him.

 

* * *

 

In the next bus ride, Yuuri and Phichit managed not to fall asleep despite how tired they were. The view outside the window had turned into a breathtaking expanse of blue that seemed to blur the lines between ocean and sky.

“It's beautiful,” Yuuri muttered under his breath as he trailed his eyes from the ocean to the island beyond them that grew larger as they got nearer. He let the wind caress his face as he stuck his head out the window to get a better look.

“Yeah,” Phichit agreed.

 

It was a strange feeling–going out from one island to another. It reminded Yuuri of when he had left Hasetsu to study far from home. He had not been sure of what awaited him in Detroit, of what kind of people he would meet, and what kind of person the place would mold him to be yet he left Japan anyway, bracing himself through all the risks that came along with it.

When Yuuri turned his head around, he saw the mainland shrinking in size but not completely disappearing out of sight. With a bridge outstretched, it held unto Belle Isle like a Mother making sure her child won't stray too far away from home, as if fearing that letting go will make her wander over the American border.

At that moment, Yuuri thought about how there will always be a part of him left at home, not in the dormitory back at school that he had grown to love, but at the little Yu-topia that he used to loathe for imprisoning him.

 _It wasn't that bad,_ he realized. Although he did hate not being allowed to go outside when he was a child, it wasn't like he grew up maltreated. His parents loved him, his sister loved him, and so did his teacher Minako, even when she was usually strict with him. Yuuko also loved him, just not in the way that Yuuri loved her.

Yuuri was surrounded by many people who loved him, but whom he was afraid of fully loving back in return.

 _Eros,_ he reminded himself when he got down the bus and set foot on Belle Isle. Yuuri had come to Detroit to change his life, to free himself from Eros. He would never forget what he came for.

 

* * *

 

“The first game today is the Elemental volleyball match,” Leo announced, reading from the program pamphlet he got from the entrance as they navigated their way around the stadium. “And that’s going to be in the indoor court.”

“A volleyball game? But I thought the Grand Prix is an obstacle race,” inquired Yuuri. He wasn’t expecting that the games would resemble the games that normal humans play.

“It is a race, but the players first have to stack up on points for the first three events,” Leo explained. He was walking ahead of Yuuri so he had to turn his head around to face him. “Whoever gets the most number of points would be the one to start first in the shooting and running events. And whoever crosses the finish line first in those events would be the winner.”

“Oh,” Yuuri finally understood.

Celestino led them deeper into the stadium as they turned to the left corridor.

“And for the first game, players will be divided into two teams,” said Guang-hong.

“Who will they be teaming with? Their opponents?” Phichit asked as he took the pamphlet from Leo to read more of the details.

“I’ve heard from the other teachers that the first event for all types is always some sort of team game,” Celestino explained. “Its purpose is to test the player’s mental and social aptitudes by seeing how well and quick they can coordinate with others despite teaming for the first time.”

“It’s really exciting actually,” said Guang-hong. “Although this is just a volleyball game, the players have to combine their powers together in order to earn more points.”

“Wow, that sounds really cool!” exclaimed Phichit. Then turning to Yuuri beside him, he said, “You heard that, Yuuri? Volleyball with magic!”

“It sounds pretty interesting,” Yuuri agreed, amused by Phichit’s enthusiasm.

“I’ve seen an Elemental volleyball match on television before, and it was quite… intense,” commented Seung-gil.

“Intense?” Yuuri asked, conversing with Seung-gil for the first time that day.

“The players from one team lost because they keep competing against each other instead of the other team,” replied Seung-gil. “It was chaotic.”

 

* * *

 

The lights in the court were so bright. The cheers of the crowd were so loud. Everything about the match was indeed intense.

The referees by the line of the Blue Team’s court raised again a red flag as the Orange Team served another ball to out of bounds.

“Samoylenko from Ukraine put too much firepower in that ball,” the commentator remarked as the said player–number nine–fumed in frustration.

Yuuri could see the members of the Orange Team apparently throwing words of reassurance and encouragement to the guy with swept black hair and with a large “9” at the front and back of his jersey. Yuuri couldn’t make out what they were saying though, since he, Phichit, Celestino, and the others were seated on the fourth column of the bleachers.

“I bet the Orange Team will lose this match,” commented Celestino who was two seats away from Yuuri.

Yuuri could see that too. Members of the Blue Team were better in coordinating their magic in order to make sure that the ball never falls on their side of the court.

“Serving next is number one from the Blue Team,” announced the commentator.

The player–number one–went to the outer part of the volleyball court to position himself for a serve. He rolled the ball in his hands a few times to get a feel of it. As soon as the referee whistled to signal the serve, the player took a few steps in front of him then tossed the ball high in the air. He jumped after the ball and just when he was about to hit it mid-air, a jet of ice came out of his hand and propelled the ball forward with more acceleration than if he had not use any magic at all.

“A strong serve!” The commentator announced.

Yuuri was mesmerized. Although he didn’t know much about magical games, he couldn’t help but feel excited when he saw one being played out before his own eyes. It was challenging. Players had to be quick in deciding what kind of move to use and strong enough to pull it off too. Seeing a fellow Ice Wielder also playing further fueled Yuuri’s interest.

The ball traveled straight into the enemy’s court and an Earth Wielder from the Yellow Team quickly turned the floor to something like quicksand so that she can easily slide through the floor and reach the ball before it hit the ground.

The ball went up, but then it was travelling back to the Blue Team’s side. Number five from the Orange Team tried to get the ball back to their court. However, player number eight, still from the Orange Team, propelled himself with air magic and stole the ball from number five, clearly trying to outscore his teammate.

Even though the players were teamed together with their co-competitors in the Grand Prix, they were also individually scored by separate judges based on their contributions to the team. This system made some of the competitors, mostly from the Orange Team, compete among their teammates instead of focusing on their real opponents in the match.

A rally was now going on and Yuuri’s eyes flitted alternately from left to right of the court as both teams refused to give up the fight.

“That was a close call!” exclaimed Phichit, who was sitting beside Yuuri, as a fire elemental from the Blue Team rocket boosted the ball into the air to get it past the tall blockers of the Orange Team. The said blockers almost had their hands touching the fire. Good thing all players were required to wear protective outfits and gears to avoid any injuries.

“Hit it to the left!” Leo shouted and Yuuri chuckled silently because Leo had been yelling advices to the Blue Team players for some time, as if they could possibly hear him over the noises from the crowd.

“No, they should ignore the cross and wait for a straight!” Seung-gil yelled louder, trying to outshout Leo. Yuuri didn’t really know what a “cross” and a “straight” was, but he was amused that Seung-gil knew such technical terms. He never saw him this enthusiastic over something before.

“It’s a deuce!* Oh my god, Yuuri, it’s a deuce!” Phichit shouted and Yuuri just got more confused.

Yuuri turned his attention back to the match to try to figure out what Phichit meant, but he saw nothing in particular to be standing out. Anyway, he decided to just focus on the match and maybe ask Phichit what a deuce was later.

24-24. 24-25. 25-25. The scores were neck and neck for some time. Yuuri wondered when a team would be declared as the winner.

Number one from the Blue Team threw some ice darts at one point to scare his opponents from touching the ball. A player from the opposing team countered him by throwing fireballs. Everything was chaotic. For a moment, Yuuri changed his mind about playing magical games.

Finally, at a score of 30-28, the Blue Team won and the crowd erupted in cheers. The game concluded with members from both teams shaking hands with each other.

The officials then willed the audience to settle down so that their announcements can be heard. “All players from the Blue Team will receive an additional 400 points to their base score,” came the voice over the microphone.

Afterwards, a list of all the players, with their total points from the match, appeared on the large video screen:

Moore, Emily – 905 points

Richardson, James – 850 points

Ivanova, Anya – 800 points

Garcia, Abigail – 720 points

Evans, Diana Jane – 640 points

Popovich, Georgi – 635 points

Samoylenko, Leonid – 610 points

Campbell, Jonathan – 590 points

Razul, Bint – 585 points

Villaester, Anne Therese – 500 points

Reyes, Shannon – 480 points

Russel, Mark – 480 points

 

Yuuri looked at the scoreboard, not really understanding how they got those scores. “That was fun,” he muttered anyway and then pondered about joining the Interschool Meet.

 

* * *

 

After the volleyball match was an hour-long break. Yuuri and the others decided to go to a concession stand to buy snacks and drinks. Celestino found a nearby stand that sold hotdogs and softdrinks and he recommended that they go to that one.

“But I want burgers, not hotdogs!” Phichit complained.

“The burger stand is too far, Phichit,” said Celestino. “I’d rather have you kids stick with me all the time instead of letting you go off on your own because you might get lost.”

Phichit pouted at Celestino and Yuuri cannot back up his friend because he agreed with his teacher. The stadium, and even outside it, was extremely crowded. He already got lost in a marketplace in his own hometown once so he would not take any risks in a foreign country.

 

Guang-hong was the first to make his way to the stand, with Phichit and Yuuri right behind him, followed by Leo, Seung-gil, and then Celestino. Just when Guang-hong was a few feet close to the line, he stopped abruptly, causing Phichit to bump into him from behind.

“Hey Guang-hong, why’d you–” Phichit started.

“Guys, look! It’s Ketty!” exclaimed Guang-hong as he pointed to the girl who was at the end of the line. Yuuri peeked over Phichit’s shoulder to see whom Guang-hong was pointing and saw the familiar wavy black hair and brown skin of their homeroom classmate.

“Oh, you’re right. It is her!” said Leo, walking forward to stand beside Guang-hong and get a closer look at Ketty.

“Who’s ‘her?’” asked Celestino.

“It’s our homeroom classmate, *Teacher Cialdini,” Guang-hong answered. “Ketty Abelashvili.”

“We’re gonna go say hi!” said Phichit as he sprinted towards the line, dragging Yuuri by the arm.

“P-Phichit-kun! I can walk by myself,” Yuuri protested as he staggered along the way; Phichit’s hold on him was very insistent.

“Hey, Ketty!” Phichit called out, and at the sound of his voice, Ketty turned around to see who was calling her.

“Aah, Phichit!” said Ketty as her eyes landed on the Thai. When she looked beside him, her eyes widened. “A-and Yuuri too.”

“Hi,” said Yuuri as he pulled his arm away from Phichit’s grip. “We were wondering when we’d bump into you here.”

No, Yuuri actually forgot that Ketty was going to be there. He just didn’t know what else to say. Ketty smiled at his words though, so he guessed that was fine. Luckily, he didn’t have to talk much either because Leo, Guang-hong, Seung-gil and Celestino got to the line.

The students then talked about the games they just saw as they waited in line, while Celestino was busy answering to some messages on his phone. Yuuri’s group talked about the recent Elemental volleyball match, while Ketty listened to them intently.

“It was so awesome, Ketty! Their Ice player could make ice darts and freeze the entire floor of the court in just a few seconds,” said Phichit, accompanying his words with dramatic actions on how he interpreted the player to have done those moves.

Yuuri couldn’t really blame Phichit for being overly excited for he found himself to be like him too. “Freezing something that large would probably take about five minutes for us,” Yuuri explained to Ketty. “That’s why it’s so amazing that the Ice player could freeze something in mere seconds.”

“Oh, I see,” said Ketty, nodding in understanding.

“Okay, I get you two are both Ice Wielders, but can we also talk about that Fire Wielder from Ukraine?” inserted Leo. “If it was a duel, he’d clearly be a worthy opponent to that Ice Wielder.”

“You mean Samoylenko?” said Guang-hong. “Yeah, he was good, except he kept stealing the ball from his teammates.”

Although it was probably fifteen minutes before it was finally Ketty’s turn to order, it didn’t seem like so because the time spent in waiting was also being enjoyed. Even Seung-gil, who was usually reserved and silent, opened up to them enthusiastically and it made Yuuri feel like he can let his guard down around him.

When Ketty got her order, she told them, “My friends and my teacher were able to secure a large table for us earlier. You guys could join us if you want.”

“Oh, that would be very nice!” said Guang-hong.

 

* * *

 

 

Yuuri had not been expecting this. All he wanted was to get some snacks and then take a seat by a nice table while chatting with his friends. He did not expect Miss Lopez to be in the table with them.

Thankfully, Miss Lopez gave him only a small nod of acknowledgement before turning her attention to Celestino to talk about their work. The two teachers stayed at one side of the table while Yuuri and his friends occupied the other side; there was plenty of space between them and the adults.

With Seung-gil around, Yuuri would be terribly uncomfortable if Miss Lopez mentioned anything related to her private classes with Yuuri. Not to mention, Serious and Suspicious Lee Seung-gil was back with full force; his eyes had been planted on Yuuri the entire time they had been at the table. And just minutes ago, Yuuri had thought he can let his guard down around him.

 

Ketty introduced Yuuri and the others to her friends, Alina and Gail. Yuuri was a little awkward in holding conversations with them at first, like he always was when he just met someone, but that was quickly amended by the aid of Phichit. Phichit would pick up the conversation whenever Yuuri got stuck and then divert it to Leo and the others.

Earlier in the line, they talked about the Elementals’ games. Now that Ketty’s friends were there, they talked about the Psychics’ field chess game, which started around six that morning.

“I don’t know much about chess but the White Team’s Knight seemed really good in what he had to do,” said Alina.

Alina was a Ukrainian, Yuuri learned, and this vaguely reminded him of Samoylenko from earlier. Then his mind drifted to thoughts of the Interschool Meet. He wondered what it would be like if he did join.

“He rode his horse so expertly and fast like the wind,” continued Alina, her eyes shining. “The audience was referring to him as the White Hero, not only because he helped make his team win, but also because of his long silver hair.”

 _Silver hair?_ Yuuri wondered how old the player was. All the Elemental players seemed to be only around their late teens to early twenties. Maybe it was different for the Psychics.

“Wait, did you just say silver hair?” Guang-hong asked suddenly, causing everyone’s attention to turn to him.

“Yes…” said Alina, taken aback by Guang-hong’s shocked tone. “It was silver and tied up in a high ponytail.”

“His name? What was his name?” Guang-hong’s tone turned urgent now and Yuuri wondered why.

“Umm, wait let me remember,” said Ketty, furrowing her eyebrows in concentration. “Fikiniro…Nikivolo… Nikirovo? Ah, it’s at the tip of my tongue but I can’t remember it! It starts with the letter ‘N.’”

 _Nikiforov,_ Yuuri’s mind absentmindedly supplied and the thought of the name felt like reopening an old wound that he had hastily tried to bandage. A sudden spark of anger surged through him but he quashed it down by taking deep and even breaths.

“What’s with you, Guang-hong? Why are you suddenly so interested in this guy?” Leo asked, putting a hand on his friend’s shoulder.

“Leo, I think he’s the one I’m looking for!” Guang-hong said, whipping his head around to face Leo. “You know that guy I told you about? That rising star from Russia? I really wanna see him play!”

 _Russia…_ No… No, no, no, there was _no way_ this person could be the Nikiforov guy who had haunted Yuuri’s life all these years. It was too unlikely.

“How about you, Gail? Do you remember his name?” Alina asked, surrendering her attempts.

“Me?” Gail put down her hotdog sandwich as she tried to recall the name of the White Hero. “Nah, sorry. I was rooting for the Black Team, so I don’t really care about this White Hero.”

“How about you, Ketty?” said Guang-hong as he slammed his hands on the table, causing Ketty to let out a surprised yelp, as he leaned towards her who was right across the table.

“A-ah me? Sorry, I wasn’t really paying attention…” said Ketty, averting her eyes. Yuuri could see a faint dusting of red on her cheeks.

“Yeah, you sure weren’t,” Gail snickered. “You were busy searching the crowd for someone else.”

Gail then gave Yuuri a wink, causing him to cock his head in confusion. Beside him, Yuuri heard Phichit laugh.

“What?” Yuuri asked.

“Nothing!” said Phichit, trying to contain his laughter. “Sorry, sorry, I just remembered something really funny.”

Yuuri narrowed his eyes at Phichit but decided on letting it go.

“Sorry, Guang-hong, I really can’t remember his name,” said Alina. Guang-hong sighed in frustration.

Yuuri let out a breath he didn’t even know he was holding. Well, if the White Hero was a Nikiforov, at least he won’t hear about him ever again. Ignorance was bliss.

Guang-hong pouted and then angrily took a bite from his own hotdog sandwich.

“If you’re so interested about him,” Seung-gil inserted after some time. “Why don’t we just watch one of the Psychics’ games as well?”

_What?_

“SEUNG-GIL, YOU’RE A GENIUS!” Guang-hong exclaimed, his eyes shining.

“The next game for the Elementals don’t start until this afternoon,” said Seung-gil after sipping from his cup of Coke. “So I guess it only makes sense that we watch the Psychics’ games instead of waiting for like two hours.”

“Oh yes, yes!” Ketty agreed. “We really won’t mind if you guys join us, right girls?”

“Sure, I don’t mind,” said Alina.

“No problem,” said Gail.

Great, Seung-gil just had to suggest that. What if this guy _was_ Viktor Nikiforov? Just the thought of his name was already enough to make Yuuri clench his hands and grit his teeth, how much more if he actually saw him. Yuuri didn’t know what he look like because he didn’t care to know. He hated Viktor and that was all that mattered. He hadn’t thought much about him since arriving in Detroit, but he truly loathed the man. He always had and always will.

Moreover, to think that it was Seung-gil who suggested… _Wait, does he know?_ Did Seung-gil know about Yuuri’s relation to Viktor? Had he somehow dig up Yuuri’s past and discovered everything about Eros?

 _Eros..._ Oh no, Yuuri could feel it again. Eros was raging inside him, wilder than it ever did before. Yuuri’s chest felt constricted and he was having difficulty breathing. Yuuri brought a hand to his chest in a failed attempt to try to calm Eros down.

“That’s a great idea, Seung-gil!” Phichit yelled beside him, unaware of Yuuri’s distress. Guang-hong, however, noticed it.

“Yuuri, are you okay?” asked Guang-hong from behind Yuuri. Yuuri wondered when he got there.

“I-I’m fine,” Yuuri lied, brushing off Guang-hong’s hand that came to rest on his shoulder. “My stomach just hurts a little.”

“Yuuri? Why didn’t you say anything? I’m right beside you, you know,” said Phichit. Yuuri was ducking his head so Phichit had to bend down to get a look at him. “I told Celestino that hotdogs are bad but he wouldn’t listen.”

Yuuri managed to laugh a little at Phichit’s joke, but it did nothing to quell Eros inside him. When he realized that all eyes were on him at that moment, his laugh died. Seung-gil was watching him.

Yuuri motioned to get up from his chair, but his chest hurt so much that it made the simple act difficult. Guang-hong and Phichit moved to support him.

“Yuuri, do you need to go to the clinic?” Ketty asked, sounding worried.  “I think there’s one around here.”

“No, no, I’m fine,” said Yuuri, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose as he lifted his head a little to give Ketty a small smile for reassurance. He wasn’t expecting the reaction he got: Ketty’s eyes grew wide and her mouth went agape. Yuuri must have really looked horrible at that moment.

Celestino and Miss Lopez were suddenly at Yuuri’s side, each one of them asking how Yuuri was and if he needed anything.

“I’m okay, I’m okay,” said Yuuri, releasing his arms from Guang-hong and Phichit. “I think I just need to go to the bathroom.”

“Yuuri, if you’re really not feeling well, we can go back early,” he heard Leo say. No, Yuuri didn’t want that. He didn’t want to compromise his friends just because of his overreaction over the mention of a person who might not even be Viktor Nikiforov.

“I’m fine,” Yuuri snapped, lifting his head to look at everyone. Everyone in the table shut up and froze in place. Distantly, he can hear the murmurs of onlookers around them.

Realizing that he had just shouted at everyone, Yuuri put on the act of adjusting his glasses to avoid meeting their eyes.

“Really, I’m fine…” he said, risking a glance at them. But then his eyes landed on Seung-gil and he saw the intensity of his gaze. Seung-gil was assessing him, and in the back of his mind, Yuuri thought that he somehow just gave away his biggest secret.

Yuuri left for the bathroom without saying another word.

 

* * *

 

Gratefully, the bathroom was empty when Yuuri got there. He didn’t want to have to worry about what other people would think of him as he hastily splashed some water to his face. If he had the time, he would just freeze himself in an ice cocoon, then relax and try to regain his composure.

Yuuri took out his amulet from under his shirt and squeezed it hard. He took a deep breath and then exhaled, focusing Eros’s energy towards the amulet.

 _It will be fine,_ Yuuri told himself as he felt the warmth from the amulet flowing into him. _Everything will be fine._

Yuuri overreacted–a lot, that was for sure.

First, the White Hero may not be Viktor Nikiforov at all. Just because he was Russian and was a Psychic, that didn’t make him Viktor Nikiforov. Yuuri learned from class that Russia had the most number of Wielders from around the world so there were probably thousands of Russian Psychics there.

Second, it was too unlikely that Viktor Nikiforov would _actually_ be in Detroit. Sure, the Nikiforovs were rich and they can travel to any country they want, but amongst all the countries in the world, did they really have to be in America? No, they did not. They were probably staying in Russia anyway, for all Yuuri cared.

Third, Seung-gil suggesting that they watch the games didn’t mean he wanted to see Yuuri’s reaction to seeing Nikiforov. Besides, Seung-gil didn’t even know about the White Hero until Alina mentioned him. He was likely only curious about the White Hero just like how Guang-hong was.

 _See, Yuuri? You were simply overreacting._ Yuuri wiped his face with his face towel and then picked up his glasses from where he placed them on the sink. He cleaned his glasses with the part of the towel that wasn’t damp before putting them back on.

Yuuri turned to the door with the thought of going back to the table and apologizing to everyone. However, the moment he opened the door, a person entered, colliding right into Yuuri. Yuuri stumbled a few steps backward before regaining his balance.

“I’m sorry, I wasn’t watching where I was going,” Yuuri said automatically as he readjusted his crooked glasses. When his eyes landed on the person he just bumped into, all the fears and anxious thoughts that Yuuri had recently kept at bay came crashing back to him like strong waves against sharp rocks.

“It’s okay. It’s my fault too since I ran on my way here,” the silver-haired man chuckled lightly as he smoothed down his red sweatpants.

“You’re the White Hero,” Yuuri absentmindedly blurted out.

“Ah, I guess that’s what people have been calling me since the chess game from this morning,” replied the White Hero as he lifted his head to meet Yuuri’s eyes. “I can give you a commemorative photo if you don’t tell anyone that you saw me here.”

The White Hero gave Yuuri a wink while the latter just stiffened in place. The White Hero had an accent, but Yuuri can’t tell from what country it was. The man was obviously foreign (maybe even Russian), but there was no way this guy could be Viktor Nikiforov. He seemed too… _kind._

His blue eyes, Yuuri noticed, were shining brightly along with his smile. His hair was tied in a low twin ponytail, which Yuuri actually found cute. Yuuri had no idea what Viktor Nikiforov looked like, but he had never envisioned it to look like the man who was in front of him at that moment.

Yuuri didn’t realize that he hadn’t replied yet to the White Hero until the man shuffled nervously on his feet and averted his eyes.

“Sorry, that was rather conceited of me,” he said sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. “You probably don’t even want a photo and–”

When the man turned his head to look at Yuuri, like _really look_ at Yuuri, he cut his words off. His eyes grew wide and his jaw dropped. Yuuri didn’t know why he was giving that kind of reaction, but he took the opportunity to study the man now that he was directly looking at him.

The man’s eyes weren’t exactly blue; there were tinges of green in them too. Ever since he was younger, Yuuri had imagined Viktor Nikiforov to have deep red eyes like the color of blood because the villains in the storybooks that he used to read always had those kind of eyes.

Also, the man’s silver hair was actually very beautiful in contrast to what Yuuri had imagined Nikiforov’s hair to look like. As a kid, he had thought Nikiforov had frizzy witch-like black hair.

But his image of Viktor Nikiforov might be very far off from what the guy actually looked like. What if he was… No, there was no way this silver-haired person is Nikiforov. _Just look at him cutely blushing… wait, he’s blushing?_

Yuuri realized he had been staring far too long at the stranger so he quickly whipped his head around to break eye contact.

“I’m sorry! I was staring and that was really creepy of me and…” Yuuri rambled as he brought a hand to cover his face. He could feel his face heating up. “I should just go, yeah, I should go. I’m really sorry for colliding into you.”

Yuuri motioned to get past the White Hero who was still standing by the doorway when the man grabbed his arm.

“Wait, could you tell me your–” the man started but was cut off when Phichit unexpectedly arrived.

“Hey, Yuuri! What took you so long?” asked Phichit. “Are you okay? You got us all worried–”

Phichit saw the hand on Yuuri’s arm and when his eyes trailed up to the face of the hand’s owner, he gasped.

“A-are you the White Hero that everybody’s been talking about?” asked Phichit, pointing a finger at the silver-haired man who had let go of Yuuri’s arm.

“Phichit, don’t sound so–” Yuuri started.

“Well, that’s what people have been calling me,” the White Hero quickly answered. He then returned his attention to Yuuri. “Anyways, I was wondering if–”

“Oh boy! I never thought I’d run into a celebrity here,” Phichit exclaimed, and then grabbing Yuuri around the shoulders, he added, “Good job, Yuuri!”

“Uh…” was all Yuuri could say. Looking back at the White Hero, he noticed that the man had gone incredibly pale. Well, he was already pale to begin with, but now, even more so.

“By the way, I’m Phichit Chulanont,” said Phichit, and then holding Yuuri closer to him, he said, “And this is my friend, Katsuki Yuuri. We’ll be watching your next game, so you better win!”

“Phichit-kun!” Yuuri scolded. Phichit was pressuring the White Hero right before a match. The man must be very nervous now.

“I’m sorry about my friend,” said Yuuri as he shrugged Phichit’s arm off his shoulders. “He gets too excited sometimes. Just ignore him and umm…”

Whatever color the man used to have seemed to all disappear when Yuuri looked at him. _He must be extremely nervous,_ Yuuri thought. _Phichit-kun no baka!*_

“Anyways, about your game…” Yuuri trailed off, unsure of what advice to give without sounding as if he was pressuring the man to win. A _good luck_ seemed to shallow. _Do your best_ sounded like he was ordering the man to be at his best. If he were in the White Hero’s shoes, he’d be more nervous about the game if people told him the latter because he’d be too worried that he might end up disappointing someone.

Instead, Yuuri settled on saying something safe: “Just play in the way you can honestly say you liked best.” He then gave the man a warm smile. The man smiled back, making Yuuri think he said the right thing.

“Well, we need to go now,” Yuuri told the man before turning to address Phichit. “They’re probably wondering what’s taking us so long.”

“Oh right! That’s what I came here for,” said Phichit, snapping himself out of his starstruck awe.

“Goodbye!” said Yuuri to the man as Phichit steered him back to their table.

The man did not reply, but Yuuri saw that the man kept his eyes on him the entire time as he walked away.

It wasn’t until they arrived at their table that Yuuri realized he hadn’t asked for the man’s name. _Well, it's definitely not “Viktor Nikiforov,”_ Yuuri thought, finally feeling at ease.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ummm... Good job Phichit for delaying Yuuri's agony? Yeah, good job Phichit! You're the best kind of friend Yuuri could ever ask for. XD
> 
> I actually rewrote this chapter several times before settling. I think I completely deviated from my original outline. I found a better way to tell the story and it felt so natural that I just had to give into the urge to write it differently. 
> 
> On the other hand, I'm supposed to be on hiatus for the entire month of September in order to study for three major exams in October. But I couldn't concentrate on studying at all because this chapter just begged to be written! So I thought I'd just finish this one chapter before I disappear for a month. 
> 
> You guys have waited long enough for me to update. You deserved a new chapter before I go on hiatus. I hope you'd all still be there when I post the next chapter of this fic.
> 
> And thank you to all the people who always leave a comment! You guys inspire me to keep writing. I love you all so much!!!
> 
> NOTES:  
> *deuce– When teams in a volleybal match tie at a score of 24-24, it's called a deuce. In order to win, a team must then have a two-point lead over the other team.
> 
> *I made Guang-hong address Celestino as "Teacher Cialdini," because Google said that the Chinese address their teachers that way. They don't use Miss/Mister. Google might be wrong though, but anyways "Teacher Cialdini" doesn't sound bad.
> 
> *"Phichit-kun no baka!"–translates to "Idiot Phichit!"
> 
> ***TRIVIAS***
> 
> 1\. Kageyama's jersey number is 9, so that player 9 from the Orange Team is actually Kageyama XD. And If you've watched Haikyuu, I think you can guess why I used the color orange for their team.
> 
> 2\. Player number 1 from the Blue Team is actually Oikawa. Oikawa's jersey number is 1, so that's why :)
> 
> 3\. "They should ignore the cross and wait for a straight!" is actually a quote from Haikyuu. I can't remember who exactly said it though, but it has always been stuck in my mind so I decided to include it there.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Shout out to me about yoi @ [ Tumblr](http://sarabelez.tumblr.com)
> 
> For fanfic updates or anything about viktuuri fanfiction in general, follow my personal writing blog: [Sarabel's Writing Blog](https://sarabel-stories.tumblr.com)
> 
> I also run some sort of Author Recs blog:[Viktuuri Fanfiction Writers](https://viktuurificwriters.tumblr.com)


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